Julie was beautiful

Many years ago now I did some home tutoring. One young girl in particular was very stressed and had developed a genuine school phobia. My brief was to get some much needed English and Maths into her...she had spent years in Primary school either just not going, or hiding in the loo if she did.
She could read and I concentrated for a while on the essentials but in the process I learned a lot about her. Once she trusted me she opened up in a fairly startling way.
At school she had been bullied, made a target for unkind remarks and not always by the other children. Her eyes would fill up as she told me some of the harsh words used by her teachers.
She was about nine when I first met her and even when I went back to teaching in a school again I still saw her and she was a welcome visitor in her teens. She baby sat for us and my kids loved her dearly.
I never heard anyone else pondering her problem. She was referred to as "that child who hates school"
I thought I knew what much of the problem was about. She was just too beautiful. Under all circumstances she looked beautiful, even after weeping! Her temperament was beautiful too. She loved people, cats, dogs and music. She learned quickly and in her teens did go back to school but never made friends in her peer group.....they still teased her.
Beauty and sensitivity ....combined they earned her a painful few years.
I never see her now.....I've moved so often I am completely out of touch....
I am reminded of this story by the out pourings on Twitter and in the press. Julie would never I am sure have described herself as beautiful...she was clever enough to avoid that one, but she was very beautiful and I really believe that it was why she was so hated and teased as a child.
She will be middle aged now and I bet she's still beautiful both outside and in. It's the inner beauty that counts after all and I honestly believe that what shows on the outside is the reflection of a glow from the inside.

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