I thought I'd share a short essay I wrote in my English class in the Art Institute back in May 2007. We were asked to write a classification essay and I decided I'd write about how women's emo are classified. I wanted to be creative and never wanted to write a boring long essay so I figured I'd present the idea through a short story. I enjoy writing as a hobby before and used to write stories and songs when I was a teen. 

You probably wonder how I came up with the characters in the story. The girls I wrote about are the girl friends I met in this MMORPG game that I was playing that time. They are my bestest friends I guess.. and they are my inspiration! And yes, how I portrayed everyone in the story is actually how I see those girls are in real. I know each of us have met a girl or two from the story. It makes me smile thinking about girls that come to my mind when I read this. Which one are you?

GIRLS

10pm at Starbucks café, four of us sit on our usual spot. This is our weekly routine. My Saturday night group: Charm, Kianna and Joyce. Women of different attitude and different emotions, we stick together in every problem and issue. Unlike any other regular Saturday, the place isn’t that full tonight. There are a few vacant seats waiting to be occupied. The line at the counter isn’t that long, not like the other time I waited for like 30 minutes before I finally got served. Oh well, it may seem different today but to us, it is still the same night out we regularly have. As usual Charm is the center of attention tonight, endlessly telling us about how she is suffering from the petty fight she and her boyfriend had this morning. I start thinking, “Haha, I bet petty isn’t that petty at all! I knew Charm so well..” Kianna, the most silent among us, just stare blankly at her coffee saying nothing at all. She is the one who will listen to us most of the time and yet will not even talk about what she is thinking. Thank God, Joyce is around. Well without her, I bet Charm will lose her temper again and will leave the rest of us turning red from humiliation. Joyce, I think is the most rational among us. Always getting things in order, she is our shock absorber.

Being with my friends almost every week, I come to realize that women are known to be very emotional and expressive when comes to their feelings. No doubt about it, we love a good cry and are real stars in our own story. Although we appear to deal with same things, we differ in the way we react to some circumstances. We are like actresses of different level in a story, having different reactions for every situation. Like my friends, each of them has their own way of expressing their feelings.

Charm is histrionic and she makes every move by blowing everything out of proportion. She cries for simple things and she turns every ingredient of her life in to a drama. She is a Dramatic Diva. We often call her that. She’s always hungry for sympathy and always trying to reap for compassion from others. As long as there is an opportunity, she can convert circumstances into a stage where she can have the limelight. Like today, as usual, the topic is about her. Her eyes are now so red from crying and it’s funny because there isn’t really a reason to cry. Kianna whispers to me, “Miyo, I thought she said it was a petty fight? What’s with the fuss?” I just shrug and give her a wink. To me, Charm is the most emotional creature God has ever created. Her reaction is so intense as if it was a tediously learned skill that has been harnessed for ages. It is very hard for her to choose rational ways to deal with issues since she tends to launch into hysterics whenever a problem arises. Good thing we are here to keep her sane most of the time. We always tell her that she should try to control her emotions whenever she feels angry, stressed or overwhelmed by trying to find healthy ways to handle her problems. We even gave her a diary so she can write down her sentiments and we advice her that, she can go over the problem and find a solution to it after her mood changes.

On the other hand, Kianna, the Let-It-Go Girl, never fusses with anybody. Sometimes I feel she is so afraid to show her true feelings and most likely she just keeps it to her self. Well, at times she gives me whispers whenever she feels like telling me, but it is very rare to happen. She never airs what she thinks and what she feels, that in a result, it is causing her self-esteem to crash down. Normally, she doesn’t have a feeling of control among us since she is not wholeheartedly devoted in anything. Tonight, I know she is getting annoyed already since our girl friend is taking much of our time talking about her “petty” problem, and yet she keeps staring at each one of us like trying to tell us to do something. She is most likely to be dominated and abused. Since she doesn’t let out her feelings that easily, most of the time she is taken for granted. I can sense that she also has something to share tonight. I can see it in her eyes, but she wouldn’t tell. I know she won’t even tell me if I ask her. I have always tried to tell her that she should start taking steps toward being heard. Instead of just giving a shrug every time we talk about our problems, I tell her that, she also needs to voice out what bothers her for disturbing the peace. I turned to her and said. “Kianna, I know that you are annoyed already, come on talk!” She just smiled sourly. I added, “Hey, everybody has a right to be heard and to express her feelings..” I looked at Charm, ”..that is, in moderation.”

The balanced type and most wanted among us is Joyce, the Cool Chic. She is most likely the girl everyone wants to date, befriend or work with since she can handle life’s situations with finesse whether how high or low a condition is. She is the problem solver and often asked for advice since she can keep her emotions in check. I observe that in every conflict, she tries to center herself by doing other things and then face the tight spot straight out. She is attentively listening to Charm right now and continuously asking her questions about how and why it happened. “Charm, you need to focus on the problem and not your emotions,” I hear Joyce say. The best thing about Joyce is that she doesn’t dominate the spotlight in order to handle sticky situations. She puts everything in the right place and knows how to fight for what is fair. She can stand up for herself and knows when to stop if it is beyond her control.

12pm and I never realize we’ve been here that long. The place is full now and there are about ten to fifteen people waiting for a space. Well, finally Charm is coming to her senses already, I suppose, since she stopped crying. I stand up and say, “Girls, let’s go somewhere and have fun! This is our night so let’s make the most of it. We got only one day to spend together every week, remember?” They agree with me and begin preparing to leave. As I turn away, Charm grabs my hand, “Let’s go fix ourselves first, I need to be stunning tonight.” We all laugh. Tonight I realize that whether life is like one big soap opera or is too boring to bear, one should know how to balance one’s emotions. True sometimes, that some dilemmas do deserve an Oscar-winning performance, but it isn’t worthy making one self feel stressed and abused. On the other hand, we should be reminded that some things are worth the trouble and that everyone deserves to give her feelings free rein.