Throughout my whole life my mother would always tell me, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. ” I never understood what she meant, or what she was trying to tell me. But as I have grown older, I know what she was trying to say. Growing up as a child I was always shy and kept to myself. Because of that I didn’t have very many friends. But I will never forget the day where I thought I made a friend. Not only that, but a best friend. It was a sunny, cool, April morning, I was on my way to school, going through my usual routine.
As I walked into the school, through the cafeteria and into the gym I felt like all eyes were watching me. I never did like being the center of attention. Looking into the sea of kids, I found my seventh grade class and made my way to the bleachers to wait for the morning bell to ring. But what I didn’t know is there was a surprise, not only for the class, but for me. At the very top of those purple painted bleachers, in a corner, sat a girl I had never seen before. She had long, brown, wavy hair, green eyes, and she was wearing a blue shirt with sparkles all over it.
She looked secluded from the rest of the people and seemed shy, just like me. Suddenly, the bell rang, dismissing all the kids from the gym to go to their class rooms. I tried to find the girl I had seen, but she disappeared into the crowd with everybody else. As I was walking down the hallway, I wondered who the girl was, and where she was going. I turned the corner, walked through the door to my class room and I saw her sitting there, her chair right next to mine. At first I was nervous to go sit down because I didn’t think she would like me. But when I finally got the nerve to go to my chair, she smiled at me.
When our teacher, Mr. Smith, finally came into the room, he said in a very excited voice, “Class, we have a new student, her name is Kelsey,” and pointed to the girl sitting next to me. Kelsey and I quickly became close to each other. We were even best friends, that’s how we introduced ourselves to everyone. We were always partners in class for school projects. I remember doing the egg drop project for our Science class. Our egg smashed into a million pieces when it hit the ground. We didn’t win, but we didn’t care, because we had so much fun doing it. We would hang out outside of school, too.
Normally, we would go to the park and swing, or play basketball, other times we would just walk around town trying to find something to do. Our bubbly friendship lasted throughout most high school. Until one cold, cloudy day in December, I found out who she really was. In the beginning, it seemed like any other day. We walked to the bus stop together, sat by each other on the bus, and walked back home from school that afternoon, everything seemed normal. We went back to her house, where I flopped down on the couch and started watching a reality TV show called “Jersey Shore”.
Kelsey was in the bathroom getting ready. Changing her clothes and doing her hair and makeup. She had told me that her mother was taking her out for dinner that night, to a really fancy restaurant. Out of nowhere, I heard a ringing noise, ring, ring, and ring. It seemed like it lasted forever. Finally, Kelsey yelled at me to answer it. Without thinking I picked up the phone and said, “Hello? ” but what happened next put me in shock. The person on the other end of the phone said, “Hey babe”, but the voice sounded very familiar, it sounded like my boyfriend. I thought my heart had dropped to my stomach.
I felt surprised, scared, and angry, all at once. I didn’t know what to do or what to say, so I hung up the phone. In a rush, I got back on the phone to check the number in the incoming calls log, and sure enough, that’s who it was, my boyfriend. Not really sure what to do at that point I went running out of the house and I remember hearing Kelsey yell my name, but I wouldn’t turn around. Even though it was cold outside, the wind hitting my face was hot. I felt sick to my stomach. I wasn’t sure where I was running to, I was just trying to get as far away as possible. Eventually, I found myself at home, crying.
For the next couple of days I ignored Kelsey and my boyfriend. I wouldn’t reply to their calls or text messages, I even skipped school for those days just so I wouldn’t have to see Kelsey. I had never been in this kind of situation before, so I wasn’t sure how to react. I didn’t want to lose my best friend, but I didn’t want a backstabber for a friend either. So, I went searching for advice, and I found it, in my mother. She told me, “Don’t ever let anyone run you over, stand up for yourself. You do want you want, you make your own decisions, but most importantly, do what makes you happy. That evening I was up all night, tossing and turning, trying to figure out what to do with the situation I was in.
Then, out of nowhere, it clicked in my head, I knew what to do. The next morning I woke up, and getting ready for school, I was rehearsing what I was going to say to Kelsey. I will never forget this day. I walked outside and, even though it was December, it felt warm. The sun was shining bright, the snow was melting, and birds where chirping. And in that moment, I felt like I had the world on my side. I finally made it to the school. I walked straight to Kelsey’s locker, where she tried to greet me with a smile.
But once she seen the anger in my face, her smile disappeared. I told her exactly how I felt, how I trusted her more than anybody, and how she was supposed to be my best friend. She tried to apologize, but I didn’t give her the chance. I didn’t want to hear any excuses. At the end of my rant, I finally told her I was done with her, and that I didn’t want to be friends with a lying backstabber. When I turned to walk away from her, I felt like I was out of breath, but I also had the feeling of relief. I had finally gotten all my anger out of my system, and I felt good about it. I was more confident than I ever had been.
To this day, I still do not talk to Kelsey. It was hard for me to trust other people again, so it was hard for me to make new friends and be in a good relationship. But I learned that not everybody is like Kelsey and my ex-boyfriend. I have learned to trust again, but I have also learned to choose my friends wisely. She changed the way I seen her as a person, and how I see others. Even though our friendship ended badly, she helped me realize the people I want to be friends with and the people I want in my life. I now understand what my mother was trying to tell me all those years growing up. And I will never forget it.
