Since the third grade me and Morgan have been best friends. We have been

through so much together, now we are going to be seniors in high school. Even though

Morgan and I enjoy doing the same things, we are very different. She was always the

prettier friend and had amazing style. Anywhere we would go I would notice that the

guys liked her and the girls were jealous of her. No one ever said anything about me.

It was all about Morgan, and maybe I was beginning to be jealous of her too.

Twice a week Morgan would go to the salon to get her hair blowdried. She has

so many nice things because her parents make a lot of money. My parents struggle

with money. Most of the outfits I wear are stuff that Morgan lets me borrow.

Morgan has had her lips done and has perfect skin. Since I was a freshman I have been

saving up for a car. I have more than enough now to get one, but that is not what I want

right now.

After this school year I'll be in college, so I've gone this long without a car I do not

need one now. Plus, Morgan has one and she drives me everywhere. Since I turned 18

I realized I would rather get a nose job then a car. My nose is the only thing I don't like

about myself. “Hey Morgan, what would you think if I got a nose job”, I said. “What! You

don't even need one!”, she said. Everyone says that, but I feel like they are just trying to

make me feel better about myself.

Morgan is driving me to meet the doctor to schedule my surgery. “This is a weird

Area”, she tells me. It does look weird, but a doctor wouldn't be a doctor unless they

knew what they were doing. My parents don't even know that im getting the surgery. Im

18 and I can do what I want. We get in the office and schedule it. In two weeks I will

finally have the face I deserve. Working two jobs all three years of high school, this nose

is finally going to be worth the effort.

I can't stop thinking about what my new face will look like. Morgan and I are

having fun looking at pictures of good noses that I want mine to look like. “Your going

to be so bruised after.”, Morgan says. “Good thing I'm doing it over summer then.”, I say.

I can't wait for people to see me after. I will be just as pretty as Morgan. I finally won't

feel like the ugly friend.

It's the day of surgery and i'm nervous but excited. I get in the room and that's the

last thing I remember. I woke up in pain, I can feel my face throbbing. My eyes are

heavy and it's hard to breathe. I can't tell what my nose looks like let but it feels small,

maybe even smaller than I expected. I'm on my way home now. As soon as I get in the

house my mom begins freaking out. “What did you do to your face, oh my gosh!”, My

mom says as her eyes being watering. She starts crying and yelling at me. Im yelling

back, “Im 18! This is my face I can do what I want!” I feel kind of bad, but this was my

choice.

It's time to take the bandages off. When I see my new nose my heart sinks. I

can feel a lump in my throat. My nose has shriveled. It is too small, everyone gasps

when they look at me. When I showed Morgan I could tell she was embarrassed for me.

The doctor says there's nothing he can do. “Sometimes your nose just won't heal

the right way because it rejects the surgery.” The doctor says. I just don't know what to

do. I wasted all my money that I worked so hard for on trying to fix what was already

perfect. I felt pressure to change something that I will never get back.

When I show Morgans mom, who is like my second mom, she gives me a hug.

We take a moment to cry together and talk about it. I told them how I felt about the way

Morgan gets more attention. It wasn't their fault, I just got too caught up in this time

where girls are using surgery to make them look prettier. Everyone's different and at the

end of the day the fake looks don't matter. Hard work is what people actually want to

see. “No one wants to see you doing better then them, and you can't let that get to your

head.” I tell my mom, Morgan, and her mom as we all have this discussion.

“I want to help you.”, says morgans mom. She offers to pay for me to go to one

of the best surgeons in the city. I'm in tears of joy, I am so grateful to have a friend like

Morgan. I just want a normal nose. I don't want to feel like a freak. I may have made my

biggest mistake in my life but I am truly grateful to have a friend like her. I never thought

her family could offer to fix my mistake. All this time I thought Morgan was making me

feel ugly and bad about myself, but really all she ever did was help me. She helped me

realize that I never needed this. The only thing I needed was the friendship we have,

and the fun times we shared together no matter how I looked. A priceless friendship.