They all called him jar bottom. Even his parents. He'd gotten used to it. He only got upset when the kids hid his glasses. He would fumble around to avoid bumping into anyone. Today, they ambushed him on his way to the bathroom. He missed it. He stood still. He couldn't see. He only felt the wet spot growing on his pants. Laughter surrounded him. He could already imagine what his father would say: what a disgrace, last year of kindergarten and you still wet yourself. He bolted toward the stairs, wanting to run, to disappear. He tripped. Silence. Then the sound of a watermelon cracking. His head had greeted the wall.
Andra Toropoc
Her desk mate called her four-eyes, and her glasses fogged up with sadness. She endured the nicknames and worsening myopia, and it took a few years to reach the nickname soda bottle bottoms. But in the meantime, she gained some advantages that made her smile: enormous breasts and a taste for love. Being called Spanish Fly didn't bother her- in fact, she embraced it, wearing it like a badge. At parties, she'd wear only black frames around her eyes and high heels. Naked. She loved how others' glasses fogged up, teasing them, and feeling vindicated.
Alex Micu
He was obsessed with those nerdy chicks with glasses and in uniforms. He set his sights on one and started following her. As she walked into an alley, tense like a tiger in heat, he prepared to strike. With his heart racing and muscles taut, he made that move only he knew how to do. The girl had no idea what was happening. She didn't even get the chance to see him. Precise, fast, and almost invisible, he chose the perfect moment, when the alley was empty. He slipped a business card into the pocket of the girl with glasses and a uniform. OptiDream, contact lenses.
(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.