Life Lessons with Topanga

I went to a psychic convention with my friends a couple weekends ago. We didn't sit down for a full reading ($60, are they crazy!? [don't answer that]) but one guy stopped us as we were walking by and said my one friend was very easy to read, so we stood there and let him do a brief reading of us.

The guy told me that on the outside I'm like a Barbie doll, but on the inside I've very stable and smart and that I have a lot of common sense (he also told me that for my career I'll start behind the scenes but that won't last long and I'll be successful, which completely contradicts my whole Stay at Home Mom job I have in mind).

I was telling my boyfriend that I think I seem like someone who has a cool name and that I don't look like a Jessica. He told me that by just looking at me, I look like a Jessica but once you get to know me, I'm not someone who you would guess has a popular over-used name. (Maybe something like.. TOPANGA!)

Growing up, I was very good friends with the shyest girl in our grade and I was one of the least shy people you would probably ever meet. My friends were also very outgoing and talkative and one used to say to me, "Why are you friends with her (shy girl), she hardly ever talks or anything"
Once high school hit I suddenly changed. In grade nine I didn't talk. The first friend I'd made was with the girl who sat next to me in business class .. by messaging each other on the computer. My friends, however, were the most-known people in our grade and probably in our whole school. The three of them were extremely loud, extremely friendly and extremely involved. And there was me, the mute loner who joined one club in high school and ended up quitting.
In grade ten, I believe, (might have been eleven but probably not) my team for Relay 4 Life made t-shirts and on the back of our shirts we wrote our names and something people knew us by. Can you guess what mine said?

*Jessica*
(who's Jessica?)
(You know tall, blonde..)
(...)
(sits behind you in math..)
(...)
(standing right next to you..)

Anyway, there was this girl who actually said to my friend once, "Why are you friends with Jessica? She doesn't even talk or anything". This was said to the same girl who used to ask me why I was friends with the shy girl.

Hm, I think this post just turned into a life lesson. Don't judge a book by it's cover! Like the psychic said to me, even though I look like a Barbie doll, that doesn't mean I'm dense; the only kind of exercise I really ever endure is brain exercises. Just because someone is shy doesn't mean they're not wickedly awesome - give us a chance! We'll warm up eventually.