What Goes Around Comes Around

Andrea Simmons guests on a talk show to clear the air surrounding a car accident her best friend, actress Teighan Smith, was involved in.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Andrea Simmons to the stage!”

Andrea stumbles on the hidden step up to the platform. It's darker in here than she had imagined. The presenter is stood before her with an outstretched hand and the least welcoming smile Andrea has ever seen.

As Andrea walks across the platform, the crowd begins to take form behind all of the camera lenses on her right. All of these impatient, expectant faces wanting something from her. She can clearly hear their spiteful words with every step she takes: ‘it’s her friend’; ‘didn’t even bother to show up herself’.

“Please, Andrea, take a seat.” The reluctant applause that had started on her arrival is fading out to silence.

Andrea sits on the armchair next to the presenter’s desk and waits patiently. The presenter’s a thin woman in her fifties with smoke-yellowed pale skin and crow’s feet reaching her hairline. She’s dolled up to-the-nines though �" pristine make-up and hair blow-dried to perfection; decked out in a pressed grey suit with killer stilettos. If Andrea didn’t know better, she’d say a nose-job had righted the crook on her bridge as well.

“So, Andrea, you’re here on behalf of your friend and actress Teighan Smith. Teighan’s recently been hospitalised following a minor car accident so unfortunately cannot speak for herself regarding the magazine articles published about her recently. You’re here to defend Teighan.”

Andrea audibly scoffs at ‘minor.’

“So, how is she doing?” the presenter asks �" more out of pleasantry than genuine concern.

Traumatised. Heartbroken. She’s fallen apart, “She’s doing really well, thanks. The bandages came off last week. She’s beautiful.”

The presenter looks a little confused for a second but keeps that sickeningly sweet, wide smile on her face, “That’s great to hear. So it was recently discovered that Teighan has been leading a somewhat double-life �" what with hiding her true identity and passing herself off as a ‘natural beauty’. I think I can speak for the majority of the general public when I say that I’m disheartened at her dishonesty and insensitivity. However, how do you feel about it?”

Andrea twitches at the presenter’s word choice, grimacing inwardly at ‘true identity’, “She never ‘passed’ herself off as anything. She’s the same, sensitive girl I’ve known since I was young. The only difference is she doesn’t look physically the same and that’s not a problem.”

The presenter smiles thinly, “I see. So, what was Teighan like in her youth then?”

Teighan’s only twenty-three.

Andrea smiles softly, “She was the sweetest. She would do anything for you. She was so generous and kind; everyone else came before her. She spent most of her time trying to make my dreams come true. She only wanted the best for everyone. And she was also blessed with a great love of �" and talent for �" the performing arts. Though, I feel the interest mostly stemmed from a deep-rooted sense of insecurity in Teighan. Any opportunity she got to be anybody but herself, she took gladly.” Andrea’s voice cracks halfway through and she scorns herself; she can’t get upset in front of these people.

She hears somebody laugh when she speaks about Teighan’s insecurity. She glances imperceptibly, shocked at the sound, towards the audience but sees nobody stand out �" they all wear the same accusatory expression.

“That’s lovely,” the presenter drawls, shuffling some papers on her desk absentmindedly, “So how did her big break come about?”

Andrea takes a deep breath and tries to calm the tension inside her. This would be the first complete recount of Teighan’s story and the first opportunity anyone would have to redeem her. It has to be done right.

“I helped her. Tee and I have been friends since we were tiny. I was never someone to let looks deter me from making friends so when we clicked, that was it: friends from the get-go. As I said, she spent most of her time trying to make my dreams come true; I wanted to do the same for her. She deserved it. I contacted as many talent and acting agencies as I could until someone responded. I arranged a time for one of their scouts to see Teighan performing in a play and they turned up. I didn’t expect too much from it �" not that I had no faith in Teighan as an actress because she’s brilliant �" I was just worried about her, about her looks. I was afraid they’d say no on the basis of her facial features. I-“

“What exactly was it about her facial features you thought would deter the agents? What did she look like?” the presenter cuts in rudely, raising an eyebrow.

“She was beautiful. She just didn’t fit society’s standards of beauty and apparently that wasn’t good enough for an acting career. She had to be offered a settlement-“

“You say she didn’t ‘fit society’s standards of beauty’ yet she was ‘beautiful’�" isn’t that society’s standard? Beautiful? Why change yourself if you’re already beautiful?” A few audience members begin speculating about Teighan’s appearance and Andrea has to restrain herself so as not to lash out at them.

Andrea regards the presenter with resentment like no other. Who was she to question Teighan’s motives over facial reconstruction? Who was she to judge Teighan in this way when this woman’s nose-job is so glaringly obvious, her puckered lips so blatantly full of Botox? What were her motivations when she had those done? To fit society’s standards?

“And on top of that, wasn’t she facially disfigured? Is that not a bit more extreme than just not fitting ‘society’s standards’?” the presenter continues inquisitively, leaning forward in her chair in anticipation of an answer.

“I wouldn’t say ‘extreme’,” Andrea replies; tone flat, jaw-clenched, “There was nothing wrong with her. If you want the technicalities, Teighan was born with a severe case of craniosynostosis and mild ptosis of the eyelid. Her mother couldn’t afford the surgeries and so Teighan grew up with an abnormally shaped skull and a closed left eye. There wasn’t much more to it than that.” Andrea’s tone has become dismissive. The presenter is pressing too many buttons at once.

The presenter nods at her and makes a few notes, smiling thinly, "So how did things progress from the talent scout?"

"He spoke to her immediately after the performance and told her straight: the company will give Teighan a contract if she undergoes plastic surgery to correct her skull and open her left eye. Teighan couldn't have said no even if she wanted to. She loves to act. Like I said, any opportunity she could get to be anybody but herself was more than welcome. Acting came naturally to her." Andrea smiles wistfully at the thought. She'd never seen anyone act with as much conviction as Teighan - she put her heart and soul into every character; so much so that very little of Teighan came through in the performance. She was a completely different person every time.

"How long before the surgery was conducted - this happened when you guys were seventeen, right?"

"Yeah, well, I was sixteen but Teighan was seventeen. She was admitted for the surgeries within the month. I didn't see much of her for February of that year and when I did her face was bandaged up. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye once she was all healed; the day after she was discharged she was flown out to Los Angeles.”

“Ooh, very nice �" all inclusive I suppose?” The audience laughs along with the presenter.

Andrea pointedly ignores everyone, “That year was a whirlwind of a year for me, let alone Teighan. I spent most of it without a best friend. When I finally got to visit Tee in September, I almost couldn't recognise her. I mean, I didn't get to see her before she left - I didn't really know what to expect. First off, her hair colour had been changed; that was the first thing I noticed. She used to have really rich, red hair. It was brown when I saw her at LAX, holding a card with my name on it.”

The presenter coughs and smiles wanly at Andrea, “How did you react? Were you visibly shocked?”

“If I was, Teighan didn’t say anything. She was just that kind of person. Internally, I was screaming. It felt like she wasn’t my Teighan anymore; like she wasn’t anybody I recognised at all and it scared me. I was scared I’d lost her. I was wrong though �" so wrong. All that had changed was what she looked like. As soon as we got back together, it was like nothing had changed.” Andrea can feel tears building behind her eyes; her nose is tingling and her breathing is getting a little harsher.

“Were you not happy for her �" as her friend whom she’s done so much for? Was she not getting everything she ever wanted?” Murmurs of affirmation and agreement sizzle in the crowd and Andrea shuts her eyes tightly in an attempt to ignore them.

“I don’t think facial reconstructive surgery was something she wanted,” Andrea admits decisively.

“Then why go forward with it? It seems like a pretty monumental decision just for a career path. Wouldn’t it have been easier to take up an office job?”

 “She wanted an acting career, not an office job �" it wasn’t about what was easy. However, to have the career she had to have surgery but I don’t think she wanted to have her face physically altered. She went for it because she knew what she wanted and she’s not somebody to let insignificant things �" like what her face looks like �" get in the way of what she wants. I think she only went through with it because of how much that career path means to her. If she had been offered the surgeries �" just because �" I don’t think she would have accepted them.”

Mumbling starts to course through the audience to which Andrea is now deaf; she’s tired of hearing snide comments from complete strangers who think they know everything about anything. Her full attention is on vindicating her best friend right now.

The lights in the studio have become brighter and Andrea almost can’t see the audience when she glances towards them absently. There seems to be more camera lenses as well. All she can see is her own face in the glass lenses and on the screens flanking the cameras.

“That’s a pretty big step to take just for a shot at an acting career. I mean, nothing was guaranteed; she may not have been good enough,” the presenter muses.

Andrea’s head snaps towards the woman and her eyes narrow, “It was enough for Tee. She grew up as the butt of every joke; she was everyone’s one-stop shop for insults. There were very few kids at our school who wouldn’t bully her. Imagine that for a second �" the first seventeen years of your life are riddled with abuse from near enough everyone you know. Wouldn’t you take the first opportunity to bail that you could get? I know I would have.”

“You’re kind of contradicting yourself here �" you’ve said she didn’t want to change the way she looked however she took ‘the first opportunity to bail’. Did she or didn’t she want facial reconstructive surgery?”

Andrea has to take a deep breath to stop herself from crying. She starts waving her hands in front of her face to keep the tears at bay.

“No, she didn’t. When I said that she took the first opportunity she could get to bail, I was referring to her acting career. I was referring to the fact that she underwent surgery despite not wanting it, so she could pursue an acting career outside of the town she grew up in �" a town full of cruel, hurtful people who only ever abused her. She took the first opportunity she could get, to bail out of that.”

A tear escapes Andrea’s grasp and slips down her cheek.

The woman clears her throat and offers an attempt at an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry if I hit a nerve with that, however, my initial question bears weight, you can’t deny that. I just meant she must have had a lot of faith in herself to go ahead and accept the offer. It takes a lot to be able to be that sure of yourself. I know I’m certainly not one hundred per cent sure of myself.”

Andrea considers that an interesting point since the presenter’s already undergone her reconstructive surgery.

A thought occurs to Andrea and her eyebrows furrow consequently, “Have you seen one of Teighan’s movies?”

The presenter c***s her head inquisitively and keeps that sickly smile on her face, “I’m not sure I understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Well, have you?” Andrea repeats impatiently.

“I’ve seen a couple �" I mean, I have to do my research...” the presenter trails off.

“Then you should understand exactly why she was so sure of herself. If you could count the Academy Awards she’s received in the past five or so years you’d understand. She’s a global phenomenon! I’ve seen the magazine covers �" the countless magazine covers. She was on the front cover of at least one a week in the beginning �" that escalated to nearly five a week. She was sought after. She was all anyone ever wanted to talk about. Why? Because she can act. Whatever equation or formula there is to be successful at portraying a character, Teighan has sussed it out. And that made her desirable. She has an incredible capacity for and range of emotions that she can tap into �" most of which are, sadly, learned from experience. There’s no one quite like her in the business right now.”

“I think you’re being a little biased.” The presenter laughs uncomfortably and a few audience members follow suit, “You are, after all, her best friend.”

“I understand what you mean but I’m not being biased �" I’m being realistic. I’ve seen everything she’s ever been in. I’ve been in the room where she keeps all of the awards she’s had bestowed upon her. I’ve never seen a room with so many statuettes in it before! She had a great deal of faith in herself because she was sure of her abilities; she didn’t need anybody else to tell her what she could do. She knew she could act-“

“If she was so sure of herself, why didn’t she seek out acting agencies herself?” A look of triumph overcomes the presenter’s face. She’s trying to find a chink in Teighan �" and Andrea’s �" armour, to prove that this multi-award winner isn’t all she claims to be.

“Fear of rejection �" maybe even fear of further ridicule. All Teighan knew of the way people treated each other came from how she was treated by her peers in high school �" even by adults because, whilst they never ridiculed her, they pitied her. That’s almost just as bad. The only other person who would celebrate in her success was me. I was the only supportive person in her life �" even her mother was lazy when it came to watching her daughter’s productions. Teighan knew she could act but she didn’t once think people wanted to see her act.”

Andrea hears gasps in the audience this time and they puzzle her. When she looks out to see their faces, all that registers is wet white lights and reflections. She lets another tear escape before swiping it away angrily.

The presenter clears her throat, hesitating; deliberating her next move. Audience members can clearly be heard whispering fervently amongst themselves �" a lot of ‘oh, dear’ but mostly sounds of people annoyed at the emotional turn in the conversation. Regardless, Andrea pulled a few heartstrings with that one - including her own.

"I'll make sure to check more of her movies out," the presenter says dryly, without conviction. Andrea has to hold back from screaming obscenities at her, "Tell me, Andrea, were you there the day of the accident?"

Andrea sucks in a deep breath �" a little taken aback by the sharp turn in conversation. She bites her lip from a mixture of frustration, anger and sadness. Teighan's accident has never been spoken about in media aside from details of what happened - and even those were wrong in most aspects.

"I was, yes. I was in a car behind Teighan's."

She pauses to take a shaky breath. Exhaling, she continues, "That was one of the hardest days of my life. The weeks leading up to it had been tough too but that Tuesday was unbearable; not just because of the accident but because of everything surrounding it. I had been in LA visiting her and was with Teighan from the moment she woke up that day. From that moment, she was never alone. Whether it be her agency, paparazzi, angered fans or just the general public - somebody was always there, always bothering her. It hurt to watch. People would hurl slurs at her and accuse her of misleading their children - like she has a duty to the population, a standard to uphold that people can follow; as if she's responsible for these people.  It was horrible.”

Someone in the audience cries out that Teighan did have standards to uphold �" that she was some sort of role model for people. Andrea’s eyes trie in vain to search for a face but the blinding camera lights conceal everyone from her. Teighan has no obligation to these people and neither does Andrea.

"Her agent spent most of the day ringing her to convince her that interviews would do her good,” she continues quietly, eyes still searching, “What would have done her good is if the world would've backed off for one minute.”

She wished for an accompanying sound of guilt or some form of apology from the audience member but none arrived.

“She was literally hounded that day. She could barely walk ten feet down the block before someone spotted her and felt the overwhelming need to voice a scathing opinion about her.”

Whispers ripple through the crowd; some still expressing those same scathing opinions, some sounding mildly apologetic.

"When it really started to get dangerous was when we were leaving her hotel in New York. New York is a busy enough place without a world-renowned actress currently being hounded by the media and the public residing there. There were at least fifty paparazzi bodies surrounding the exits on both sides of the hotel as well as enraged ‘fans’ blocking the roads. I don't think even Beyonce has garnered as much attention before. Trying to leave the building was impossible. The security employed to clear the crowds were trying their hardest but there just weren’t enough of them.”

The lights are blinding now �" either that or she just can’t see through the tears. The same audience member cries out: ‘well, what did she expect? It comes with the territory!’ Andrea has to close her eyes and count to ten to keep herself composed.

 “When she finally got into a car, it was another ten minutes before she could leave the hotel. People were all over the place. I got into a car behind and we pulled out together. Fifteen minutes down the road and… and-“

The presenter offers Andrea a box of tissues which she gladly accepts. Blotting away tears, she tries to continue, “We were only fifteen minutes on the road and it happened. I don’t think there’s a word for it �" for the sheer impact something like that can have on a person.”

The audience has fallen silent.

She has to take a moment to steady her breathing. The white lights are dissolving before her eyes and she can see �" though it’s still blurry �" the expectation bubbling under each audience member’s face. It makes her feel sick, their twisted anticipation. Teighan was involved in a serious car crash and all these people want are the gory details.

Well they can f*****g have them.

 “I watched- I literally watched that car �" a car with my best friend in it �" I watched it go up in flames.”

A couple of audience members audibly wail and gasp. The presenter’s face falls.

A few minutes pass as Andrea regains herself. Her hands grip tightly to the armrests on her chair as the flashbacks start.

“F-Funny how that d-detail somehow d-didn’t make the p-papers, isn’t it?” Andrea only has a stammer when she’s nervous or excited or crying heavily. She laughs without conviction, “That car was engulfed in fire but the tabloids just t-tell you there was a ‘c-crash’. There was no crash �" there was an electrical fault or something. Regardless, one minute that car is driving down the r-road, the next it’s a ball of fire skidding into a t-tree. It all happened in the blink of an eye.”

The image of you friend consumed in a burning wreck of a car isn’t something that leaves your mind easily. Andrea has to count 1, 2, 3 as she breathes to keep herself in line.

“The bandages she had taken off the other week �" the ones I told you about �" those were from her face,” she continues steadily, “Bandages hiding the third degree burns she suffered. If only you could see her now. She’s still beautiful.”

Andrea has given up trying to stop the tears. She doesn’t care about how she looks right now or how these people perceive her.

“My, God,” the presenter whispers, astounded, her cheeks reddening in well-placed embarrassment.

“I’m not a believer, ma’am, but I wouldn’t think G-God is the person you should be talking to right now,” Andrea replies dryly, patting away every tear streaking her cheeks. She’s breathing more regularly now.

Silence befalls the whole television studio; nobody knows how to react to this striking news. Andrea adjusts her position on the armchair and continues dabbing at her tear-stained cheeks. The presenter takes a few moments to compose herself; trying desperately to surreptitiously wipe away a lone tear.

The blinding lights have completely dispersed and she can see everyone’s face clearly. Andrea takes a moment to register the expressions littering the faces of the audience members now. It doesn’t even do anything for her to see them looking guilty �" just as they should be. She feels empty. There is no grand sense of redemption for Teighan.

“The worst thing about what happened to her is not that she’s back to square one, it’s that nothing changes after school,” Andrea carries on breathlessly, “Her highest hopes when she took up this career path were that people would treat her differently. She hoped people would pay less attention to her face and more attention to what she brings to the community, to what she can do for people. But everyone’s just as cruel as they were in high school. Nothing changes. The minute the public found out that her face is different from what she was born with �" and that it was changed so she could pursue this career �" they wasted no time in tearing her down.”

The presenter looks at the floor momentarily, ashamed.

“And for what reason? Because they felt lied to and betrayed?” Andrea continues angrily, “I don’t know how to break it to you guys but what a person does for themselves does not concern you. She didn’t change herself for anybody but herself. She doesn’t owe anybody anything and, quite frankly, it’s disgusting that people believe she does.”

Andrea makes a point of looking directly into the crowd to find the earlier culprit. It may be so quiet that it’s almost inaudible but it’s there: a sound of chagrin from someone.

“Our society broke someone who had tried so hard to make things better for herself; someone who had been subjected to the very depths of human cruelty; someone who had recovered from this cruelty and thrived. Society crippled her yet again. I hope you’re God damn proud of yourselves!” The venom in her words was palpable; hot and sharp just like the look in her eyes.

“I didn’t come here to clear the air. I came here to tell Teighan’s side of the story. The only side that actually matters since what happened, happened to Teighan and no one else. The public is not involved. The media is not involved. I’m not even involved. Teighan made her decisions for herself because she wanted a better life. Isn’t that what we all strive for? Something better than what we already have?”

Andrea stands and looks out at the audience. The house lights have come on and she can clearly see every face in the room now �" from the presenter to the gentleman in the far corner. And they all look the same: ashamed. Andrea nods her head resolutely.

“Think about that as she recovers yet again.”

With that, Andrea leaves. As she steps out of the building she can only hope her words haven’t fallen on deaf ears. She can only hope she’s done Teighan the justice she has always deserved.