During the end of school I remember getting some exciting news and having a smile slapped across my face that would not let go. Everybody stared at me. The teachers, the students, the staff... everyone looked at me. Guys smiled at me, as for the first time in my three years of being there I made eye contact with them, grinning so much my face hurt. But the smile could not be helped.
At the time I thought it was because I never smiled.
The me in high school was a reticent loner, hidden behind books, skipping classes on any given whim to ride the trains, and stomping quickly past everyone in my boots. I wore huge sweaters over my thin frame and kept my hair boy short. My eyes were like a raccoon's with tons of black eye liner. I was unapproachable, hostile in the eyes of many, and some even labeled me a 'snob' just for my reserved nature during conversations.
At the end of the year, a boy who was friendly with everybody talked to me and we had a deep conversation about life and what not. Later he told someone I was 'cool' and then the thing about me smiling happened.
Suddenly I found myself in a whirlwind of people.
A few girls approached me and asked about this and that.
I had confessions from a few boys.
And received compliments from the most random of people.
Some of who knew me even though I didn't have a clue about them.
One girl even started talking to me on a daily basis.
Apparently, people knew who I was.
The conversation with the boy and my smile made me approachable for once. I wasn't scary anymore. No one saw me as having those invisible walls of 'hostility' and 'snobbery' anymore.
Now I still rarely smile. But I have a new outlook on the people around me and on myself as well. They aren't all out to look down upon me, rather the opposite. And as for me, I talk more in conversations and on rare occasion give out a smile.
Moral of the story: A smile work wonders.