The tall plane jane

The morning sun shone brightly over the enormous campus of St. Mary's College. Students walked through the gates in groups, laughing, chatting, and taking pictures. Some were meeting their friends after the long vacation, while others were stepping into college life for the very first time.

Among them was an eighteen-year-old girl who stood quietly near the entrance, holding a file tightly against her chest.

Her name was Ananya.

It was her first day of college.

She looked at the college building, then at the hundreds of students walking around her. For a moment, she stood frozen.

"Okay, Ananya. You can do this," she whispered to herself.

She adjusted the strap of her handbag and took a deep breath.

Ananya was not like most girls her age. She was six feet tall. Her height was the first thing people noticed about her, even before they noticed her face, her smile, or anything else.

And unfortunately, it was also the reason she had spent most of her school life feeling uncomfortable in her own skin.

She remembered the comments.

"Hey, basketball player!"

"Are you sure you're a girl?"

"Who will marry someone this tall?"

"Look at her! She looks like a boy!"

Sometimes the comments came from boys. Sometimes even from girls. Some people said them as jokes, while others deliberately said them to hurt her.

She had learned to laugh along, pretending those words didn't bother her.

But they did.

Every single time.

She often wondered why being tall was such a terrible thing in other people's eyes. Why couldn't she simply be a girl who happened to be six feet tall?

She looked around the campus.

There were girls walking together, most of them shorter than her. Some were wearing pretty dresses, while others wore jeans and colourful tops. Their hair was neatly styled, and their laughter filled the atmosphere.

Ananya glanced at her own reflection in the glass entrance door.

She was wearing a simple light-blue kurti with white leggings. Her long, dark-brown hair fell in soft waves down her back. She had a naturally pretty face, expressive eyes, and a quiet smile that rarely lasted long whenever she was surrounded by strangers.

She looked at herself for a few seconds.

What if they make fun of me here too?

What if the boys in my class start calling me names?

What if nobody wants to be friends with me?

She shook her head.

"Stop it. It's just college. Nobody knows you here."

With that little encouragement, she walked towards the admission office.