Before She Became the Girl They All Noticed

The girl they all noticed appears on the first page… as her parents or guardians open the photo album.

As more pages are turned… slowly… during an autumn evening… before the dark clocks in for its night shift.

The girl they all noticed smiled in that photo. With her close friends at the time.

They had given themselves names from their favourite cartoon show… something like The Powerpuff Girls or something. The same cartoon they used to watch together after completing their homework.

One girl was Blossom. Another was Buttercup. And the girl they all noticed… she was Bubbles.

As the girls grew older… they all had dreams of leaving their environment. Working in places that would allow them to compete with men… and show that they could do it better.

So as they got older… they worked hard. And finally… they made it into high school.

One thing they had managed to do until the end of Grade 7… was remain tight together. And get high marks in school.

Everything was looking promising for Blossom… Buttercup… and the girl they all noticed.

When the World Got Bigger

A tear joined with a smile… As the first tear reached her lips… the second tear managed to drop… and hit the picture of the girl they all noticed.

A picture of her first year in Grade 8… with her two friends.

As the months went on… the girls stopped watching The Powerpuff Girls. Instead… they were watching romantic movies.

Whether it was bioskop… Nigerian movies… or Indian movies playing on their TV. One thing was apparent… they were becoming fascinated by boys.

While everything else stayed the same. Books. Back home after school. Helping their parents cook or clean. Bringing tea when there were guests. Nothing out of the blue.

The girl they all noticed began seeing how pretty she was… the first time boys in her age group started complimenting her a lot.

And that’s when the first crack appeared… as she looked into the mirror.

Her body was developing differently from her friends. And for the first time… she was becoming aware of those differences.

That’s truly when her self-esteem peaked… through the attention she received… and the way she was beginning to see herself.

That’s the exact point her world started getting bigger.

As more and more boys spoke about her… and approached her. Even boys who were older.

She finally felt like the girl in those movies… the one who was chosen by the prince. And together… they lived happily ever after.

Nothing outside of that had really changed. Her friends noticed.

Blossom was happy for her. Buttercup saw an opportunity that neither of the other two girls had seen yet… but she kept it to herself.

And so… the three girls continued doing their homework… getting good grades… and navigating high school together.

When Being Noticed Worked

Peeeeeeeee !…

The photo album gets placed down at the sound of the kettle… as it finished boiling water.

The photo album isn’t closed… it is left wide open… as the distance between the album and the footsteps stretches.

It was left open on a page where the girl they all noticed had gone to her first spring dance as a high school student… with her friends.

She wore a beautiful outfit that had been bought for her. A skirt reaching her knees… with a beautiful design.

Not too much… not too light… just enough to steal the show… and win Mrs Spring Day.

After the spring dance… as the girls were about to leave with Blossom’s parents… Buttercup moved in.

Why don’t we not leave and stay behind… because thanks to the girl they all noticed… they had been invited to hang around cool older boys… the same boys many girls wanted a piece of.

Blossom rejected it.

A test was coming… and she reminded the girls.

But the girl they all noticed rejected leaving too… and stayed behind with Buttercup… because the boys had promised to take them home after the party.

And after that event… the girl they all noticed drew attention from the whole community.

“Have you seen that girl?”

“Yoh bro… I want to shoot my shot… but she intimidates me.”

And just like that… more and more boys crawled onto her socials.

Looking back now, I realise that being noticed can quietly change the way a young person begins seeing themselves. At first… it is simply attention. People recognising you. Speaking about you. Wanting to be around you. Nothing about it feels dangerous when it begins. Especially when that recognition starts opening doors that once seemed closed. But sometimes… the more people recognise a version of you, the harder it becomes to imagine losing that version. And what begins as attention can slowly become a reputation worth protecting… a different young life explored deeper in Before They Called Him Trouble.

Every post went from getting a decent amount of likes… to getting almost celebrity-type likes and comments.

That’s when she started experimenting with makeup too… as the girls who were also in that range of attention were doing.

And that’s when being noticed worked.

When the Mirror Started Talking

The last picture of the girl they all noticed appeared in the middle… as the other pages were empty.

One last look at the photo album… as more tears, no longer joined by a smile, made their way onto the last picture.

Ironically… the last picture was the first picture where the girl they all noticed wore heavy makeup… a short skirt… alongside Buttercup, who was also wearing revealing clothes.

But something was missing in that picture.

Blossom.

The picture was taken on Youth Day. By this time, Buttercup had used their new status to make friends with older girls who were also in the same league.

The older girls wanted to get close to the girl they all noticed. And through Buttercup… it was possible.

An exchange that worked in their environment.

Now Buttercup and the girl they all noticed had access to men with money and status. The boys in their age group… the boys from school… weren’t cutting it anymore.

And the older girls used the youth and status of Buttercup and the girl they all noticed to remain relevant… as their own popularity was beginning to fade.

Looking at the exchange between these girls… something becomes difficult to ignore. One group had access to youth and attention. The other had access to people, money and status. Each side had something the other wanted. In psychology, relationships viewed through the rewards and costs people perceive are explored through social exchange theory.

The alliance worked.

Back at school… when the three girls would hang out during break time… Blossom would talk about school grades. Programmes they could attend so that when they finished school… they could go and study.

Or romantic movies… as usual.

But the girl they all noticed would dismiss Blossom. Asking her when she was going to grow up.

She needed to change. Hang around with them. Meet men with money.

Because those men were going to open doors for them… while Blossom continued taking the longer route of studying.

Blossom rejected it.

And just like that… Buttercup and the girl they all noticed broke the mirror.

They started distancing themselves from Blossom. Because to them… Blossom was no longer on their level.

She had become an embarrassment. And possibly… a danger to their new reputation.

At home… Buttercup and the girl they all noticed would tell their parents they were going to sleep over at each other’s houses.

Buttercup would tell her elders:

“I’m going to sleep over at the girl they all noticed’s house.”

And at the same time… the girl they all noticed would tell her elders:

“I’m going to sleep over at Buttercup’s house.”

And just like that… it worked.

They would leave home wearing clothes that wouldn’t alert their elders. Then once they reached a takeaway or public bathrooms… they would change into the outfits they had chosen for the night.

Clothes that drew attention. That drew fascination.

Then at another corner… far away from their neighbours… where the reach of their elders ended… an expensive car would pull up beside them.

And there they went.

Sunday… before school the following day… the car would drop them off at the corner of their streets late at night.

They would walk back to their houses. When asked why they were coming home so late…

“The taxi broke down.”

Monday… they had money in their purses. Money they hid away from their elders because it would raise suspicion.

Their grades plummeted. Their social media following increased.

And with that money… they would buy more clothes. Makeup. Food. And other things they wanted.

At the same time… Blossom wasn’t gaining social media followers like the other two.

She would get decent likes and comments… as she posted another academic distinction to her name.

And as academic doors were opening for Blossom… other doors were opening for Buttercup and the girl they all noticed too.

One environment.

Two worlds.

The Girl Behind the Attention

As the darkness settled in… the parent or guardian of the girl they all noticed put away the photo album.

Then went into another room… where a baby was crying.

“Your mother will be back soon… don’t worry.”

Afterwards… they went outside to close the gate. Placed the lock around it.

But just before snapping it shut… they pulled the lock back out.

For another night… just in case.

As they made their way back into the house… a few minutes later… there was a knock on the door.

A slight hope filled the parent or guardian… and the young child.

Could it be?

They made their way towards the door. But the moment it opened… the hope faded.

Although the smiles remained on both their faces.

“Aunty Blossom!”

The child screamed as they hugged.

A few minutes later… Blossom reported.

“I can’t get hold of her anymore.”

“She blocked me.”

“She didn’t even pitch up at my university graduation.”

The last time Blossom had seen the girl they all noticed… was a few months ago. When she slept over at Blossom’s house… with bruises around her face.

And she had promised… she would return home.

But she hadn’t.

She hadn’t posted anything on her socials either. Blossom was still hoping she would make contact soon.

They sat together… had tea… and eventually… Blossom left.

Conclusion: The Girl They All Noticed

Once upon a time… there were three little girls.

Blossom. Buttercup. And Bubbles.

Three girls who watched cartoons after completing their homework.

Three girls who dreamed of leaving their environment one day… working in places where they could compete with men… and show that they could do it better.

And for a while… everything was looking promising.

Then high school came. The world got bigger. The conversations changed.

And somewhere along the way… the girl they all noticed discovered something about herself.

People were noticing her.

At first… it was just compliments.

Then boys started approaching her.

Then came the Spring Day. The pictures. The likes. The comments. The older boys. The older girls. And eventually… the men with money.

Every time something changed… another door opened.

And the strange thing was… it worked.

She was being noticed. Her name was moving. Her pictures were travelling. People who had never spoken to her before suddenly wanted to know her.

And somewhere between all that attention… the little girl who once watched The Powerpuff Girls with her friends was growing older.

But growing older wasn’t the same as knowing where all those doors would lead.

Blossom continued opening doors through her books. Buttercup and the girl they all noticed found other doors.

One environment. Different worlds.

And now… years later… the photo album is back where it belongs.

The kettle has stopped boiling. The tea has been served. Blossom has gone home.

And somewhere inside that house… a child is waiting for her mother.

The same mother whose photographs once received almost celebrity-type likes and comments. The same girl whose name used to move through the community.

“Have you seen that girl?”

People used to ask.

Now… the people who knew her before everybody else are asking a different question.

“Has anyone heard from her?”

The strange thing about the photo album… is that it still has all three girls.

Blossom. Buttercup. And Bubbles.

Still smiling. Still young. Still carrying dreams about the women they wanted to become.

The photographs haven’t changed. Only the years outside them have.

And we don’t know where the girl they all noticed is tonight. We don’t know whether she’ll return tomorrow. We don’t know what she’ll say when she does.

But at that house… the gate remains without its lock.

For another night… just in case.

Because before the community knew her as the girl they all noticed… before the compliments… before the makeup… before the reputation… before people started asking where she had gone… there was a little girl in a photograph.

And to the people who grew up with her…

she was Bubbles.

Mpumelelo Ncwana writes about the psychology behind decisions, identity, and the systems that shape behaviour.