Mean Girls

In middle school I moved to Charlotte and was completely afraid of making new friends. I had a hard time the first couple of weeks, but eventually befriended a group of girls that had known each other since pre-school. I was kind of fifth-wheeling but I was just glad to have people to talk to and eat with at lunch. Things were pretty cool until I noticed something strange. Whenever one friend wasn't in the room, the others would talk about her. Very Mean Girls style. They would talk about her parents, her weight, the way she talked. I couldn't help but wonder if they'd say anything about me when I wasn't there. It was so uncomfortable to be in that situation especially when the bullying escalated and they would say horrible things to her face. It wasn't until high school that I started to put myself around people that were positive and made genuine friendships. I'm thankful to not have the target of bullying in that situation, and it helped me to identify it. Since then I've tried to stay away from toxic conversations and make a stand for people who are being targeted when they're not even there.