Yesterday, I put on Simon’s skin. I thought it would help me understand the secret of happiness, and I guess it sort of did. He was a cool guy and we all missed him, but I felt like there was so much more we could have learned from him, that would have made us miss him more. He was always the happiest kid in school, I swear. Whenever I walked past him, his happiness would rub off on me, and I would be happy, too. I wondered how he did that, making a whole class seem happier walking out, than walking in. You need someone like that in your life, someone that will be there to make your day better when it’s going bad. It wasn't only some days that Simon was happy; it was all the time. He found happiness in the littlest things in life, maybe things that didn't even matter that much.

I used to be kind of your average Joe, you know, no meaning to anyone, average grades, kind of a follower rather than a leader. But I wanted to be more, someone who influenced at least one person. Because of that, I worshiped Simon in a way. Not that he was popular, or that everyone knew his name. In fact, it was the exact opposite. But he was the kind of kid you would recognize in the hall and be like “Oh hey! That’s the happy kid!” It didn't matter that you didn't know his name because he had an identity, a meaning to all of these people’s lives. That made me jealous, because he didn't have to try to be known. It was as if he knew the secret to happiness.

I don't know how I ended up being able to try on his skin. It showed up in a box on my front step with a note. I was supposed to try it on for thirty minutes, no more, no less. And it was very weird to ‘be’ Simon. Even if it was just for thirty minutes. It was weird to look in the mirror and see Simon, instead of me. It was a common practice, to try on someone’s skin after they died, and then pass it on so others could, too. I had never mattered enough to anyone to get someone’s skin. It made me wonder who would have sent the skin to me.

Simon’s skin was just as you would think it would be. Slimy, and tight. Simon was a very tall and skinny kid. I, on the other hand, was not.  It was very spooky, because it felt like Simon’s soul was in the room with me. It felt like I was being him. There was something almost magical about his skin. Like I was almost able to see into his brain. Only little bits of it, though.

I was able to see the world in a totally different perspective. It definitely made me think a little more about Simon. There were things I never knew about him. He was kind of an average student like me, and even though he didn't seem like a follower, he worried about the same things I did about fitting in. I realized that he was kind of oblivious to the fact that everyone thought he was the happiest kid on earth. I don't think that he even realized how happy he was. He probably thought he was as average and unmeaningful as I was. Maybe there was no secret to happiness, no rule to live by that would help you be the happiest kid on the planet. Happiness was supposed to be a thing that came naturally. You were supposed to not even know it was there.

So even though there was no obvious secret to happiness, I learned about what it might be. I learned that even if you think you're an average Joe, you may matter in someones life without even knowing it. You could be the happiest person without even knowing it. That’s the secret; to be oblivious to how happy you may be, but to notice how happy other people are.