Finally Seen

by Kelly Yang

I have not been living in the Imagination Hotel. I have been living in the Reality Freezer.

“It’s okay to get words wrong—I get ’em wrong all the time!” “But I thought you got a medal in spelling!” I blurt out. “Doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes!” Millie says.

I don’t know what nerd means. I decide it’s a kind, sensitive boy who misses his dad. The kind of person I’m honored to be friends with.

“This is exactly why I want you to read books—to see the world through someone else’s eyes. I can tell you as a Black person, I have had moments just like this… where I’ve wondered, did this really happen? How could this happen to me? It’s so easy to brush these experiences under the rug. But I am so proud of Catherine Wang for shedding light on them, so that we all learn and grow. Sometimes an experience that seems impossible to us is actually the lived experience of many other people. And by understanding that, we all become more empathic human beings.”

I remind myself that fear and courage are two sides of the same bath bomb. This time tomorrow, I hope my courage side lathers.