Reading Time: 7-10 minutes
Author: Amira Salma Fazriya
Dahlia is an introverted girl who is very smart and talented at playing musical instruments, but her skin disease vitiligo makes her insecure, and she avoids crowds at all costs. But when she meets Flory, who is from eastern Indonesia, she also feels that her physical appearance is different from the others. It is a feeling of shared fate that makes them feel stronger together.
The first day of high school is actually the worst for Dahlia because she has to make new friends and she hates adapting to a new environment. She really struggled with it; whenever she tried to approach people, they would stare at her in complete disbelief because of her patchy loss of skin color. This kind of gaze made Dahlia uncomfortable, she felt that other people were analyzing her imperfections, which is why she always avoids eye contact. There was even a time when she was swimming in her apartment's pool and there was a babysitter who suddenly took the baby away from Dahlia, saying
"Don't come near, son, you'll catch a disease" as if insinuating.
While holding back tears and anger, Dahlia immediately swam away from them. Indeed, there are still many people in Indonesia who think that vitiligo is some kind of fungal infection that is contagious, which it is not. Dahlia tried to think positively by assuming that people can be like that because they lack knowledge, she never stood up for herself until she became friends with Flory.
During one year of high school, Dahlia did not get real friends, some of them only approached her if there was a need, such as asking for homework answers. They even have a nickname for Dahlia which is 'zebra/cow skin'. After taking her report card, she thought about homeschooling, but her parents calmed her down by saying she would find a good friend in the new class, and it was proven when Flory came late to class where there was only an empty seat left next to Dahlia.
"Is anyone sitting here?" Flory said.
"No, you can sit here" Dahlia answered.
"Are you separated class from your chair mate?"
"No, I sat alone during first grade."
"Really? Why?"