Holding my breath, closing my eyes and saying a prayer, I looked at myself in the mirror.
‘I love being a girl, I’m really happy in my body and I won’t change,’ I repeated.
Only, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself that those words were true, I caught a look at my reflection.
There was nothing that stood out as being wrong with my body, or my personality in fact, but there was an air of anxiety hovering over me at all times.
I felt uncomfortable with who I was, only I couldn’t put my finger on why.
So, convincing myself that these feelings were normal would just have to do.
‘It’s time to go now Jess,’ my mum Sharon, now 58, bellowed from the bottom of the stairs.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I headed to school.
With a great group of girlfriends and feeling content in all of my classes, everyone assumed that I was happy.