Her tawny bangs hung over her face, obstructing the view of her sad
eyes.  She wasn’t ugly and she wasn’t fat.  She was just small and
innocent and maybe a few social classes down from the thin girl with
short blond hair whose icy words, “You’re out,” rang throughout the
air.  The world seemed to close upon us as the blonde girl pointed to
the end of the line of people waiting to play.  The sad-eyed girl’s
only crime had been to join a game of nine square and yet no one
protested or stood up to say she was wrong, not even me.  We all knew
what was going on, yet we watched Sad-Eyes get struck down time and
time again and we watched her face grow more dismal with each powerful
glare from Blondie.
    As another ball whizzed angrily by Sad-eyes, the seven girls who
filled the remaining squares rustled nervously.  I looked around and
saw amusement, fear, and defiance flashing through the crowd of faces
that encircled me.  I sucked the end of my thumb absently as I turned
back to the game, briefly closing my eyes to pray that the horrific
scene in front of me, would turn into a soap opera on the television
that I could turn off and walk away from.  It didn't.  As my fantasy
slowly warped back into reality I realized I was there; in the middle
of this awful world where blonde girls threw red plastic spheres at
kids who weren’t “worthy” of a chance.
    I wish I could say that I stood up to Blondie that day.  That the
angry red monster that had been growing inside of me, had burst out of
my chest and chewed up all the injustice that had occurred in those
nine little squares, but sometimes the only thing we can do, is stand
and watch, even if it’s not right.  Sometimes we cannot focus on what
we could’ve done or should’ve done, but what we will do and after that
day I promised myself that next time, I will stand up for what is,
should be, and will always be right.  I will burn the flag of
discrimination and wave it proudly above my head.  Then maybe, just
maybe, I will have changed the world.