Childhood Chronicles

Everyone Isn't Your Friend

Growing up as a little girl I had the best childhood. I was spoiled. I always had the latest clothes, sneakers, and video games. My mom and grandmother took great care of me. All of this continued until I reached the age of 13. It wasn't because they could no longer afford to take care of me and get me the things I wanted. Once I got to high school, things took a turn for the worst.

During the beginning of my freshman year in high school, I stayed to myself and didn't interact with anyone. I walked to all of my classes alone. I even ate lunch alone every single day. People would always try and sit at my table with me. I would either ignore them or get up and move to another table. After a while, people started making fun of me because I was quiet. They would call me stupid, knock my books on the floor, and even bumped me when I walked down the hall. I couldn't understand why people would treat me this way. My hair was always pretty, I had name brand clothes and brand named sneakers. I just knew all of this would help me be popular. Eventually, I was fed up and decided to make some changes. I decided on that very day that I would no longer be made fun of.

The next day when I arrived at school I started talking to the other students in my classes. At first, no one interacted with me because I was known as the weird kid in class but then they started to warm up to me and the next thing you know, I became popular. I was so happy. Everyone talked to me and wanted to hang out with me. It was one of the best moments of my life. Until I started hanging with the wrong group of friends.

I was 13yrs old so I knew right from wrong. It didn’t matter one bit though. I started hanging out with my friends after school. We hung out at the mall every day. One day, my best friend decided that she wanted to go to this store where they sold perfume and body lotions. I was on one side of the store and she was on the other. She came over to me and said ''put this in your purse''. I replied ''no''. She then said, ''I knew that you were a coward and I should’ve never made you my best friend.'' I didn’t want people to start talking about me again so I finally decided to put it in my purse. I was so nervous because I’ve never stolen anything before. Once we made it past the alarm and out of the store, the nervousness wore off. 

Every day after school, we went to this same store and did the same routine every single day. She would bring it over to me and I would put whatever she wanted in my purse. One day, something felt off but I still decided to do what we’ve been doing. We’re walking towards the exit so that we can leave. She went through and I was right behind her and then the alarm went off. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it was about to jump out of my chest. They checked her purse and pockets and they didn’t find anything. They then started to check me and before they could even check everything, she blurted out, ''check her purse. I saw her put stuff in her purse.'' I looked at her in disbelief. She's supposed to be my best friend and she snitched on me. I knew I would get caught but that wasn’t the point. She betrayed me. Then it hit me, she had been using me this entire time. I vowed to never speak to her again

My mom picked me up from the store. I received the worst lecture ever. This was the first time she’s ever spoken to me that way and it broke my heart. I never meant to make my mom feel the way she did. I could tell she was disappointed in me. That hurt me more than any wound ever could. She made me give the store clerks my allowance until I paid for everything I’ve been stealing from the store.

In conclusion, I learned a great lesson. Never change who you are to try and fit in with other people. Also, beware of those you consider your friends. They could very well be a snake in disguise.