Friends are Evil Sometimes - but that's okay!

 Hello! Hola! Annyoseong! I hope you had an amazing day, well, I did anyway.

*transfers good vibes to you*

Anyway, what did I do today? Even if you’re not interested, I’ll tell you. I went to see some friends along with my mom.

Ever since I was little, I’ve had trouble making friends. Why? I don’t know. I never really clicked with anyone. So, ever since I was a small child, I had one best friend; my dad. But when I was 14, he passed away due to cancer, and till then, I had a few friends.

My best friend was a girl, let’s call her Candy. Candy was super smart, with a skinny model-like body and long flowing brown hair. I was kind of jealous of her because she looked exactly like what I had dreamed to achieve. But despite a small green envy monster in my head, she was my best friend but I loved her. But anyway, it wasn’t meant to last and we parted (on good terms).

I changed schools and found two girls from my previous school there. There were only 9 kids in my grade, so I had no choice but to be friends with them. Let’s talk about the first friend.

I’ll call her um…. Licorice (because I don’t like licorice :3). Licorice was bold and outspoken. We had our clashes because both of us had leader-like personalities. We both fought for the top position in our class, were equally popular and always competed against each other. She was VERY bossy. Oh, also she was a marvel fan (I don’t have anything against marvel but I don’t like their movies sorry) so once I said to her, “All those characters don’t exist in real life” and she hit me with a chair. YES, A CHAIR. It hurt really bad but we had CCTVs in our classroom so she got in trouble anyway.

The other one was Jellybean (because no one really loves jellybeans but we all eat them because they don’t taste too bad). She was like Candy, same body type, same birthmark, same birthdays. She was the type of person who didn’t really fit in anywhere but tagged along. She didn’t really have an aim to achieve at school and always stayed in the middle. Whenever Licorice and I fought, she would sideline and didn’t take sides (until our friendship ended). During Licorice and my rise to fame, she stayed close to anyone high on the popularity scale.

Anyway, something terrible happened. I told them some things that I should’ve kept to myself (I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut now)and those girls exploited it to no end. Told the teachers, told the boys, told Zeus himself – okay yeah Zeus doesn’t exist.

From then on I became a loner at that school, but after the term was over, a certain teacher started picking on me and I left (after causing a lot of drama). It’s an interesting story if you’d like to listen. If not just skip the next paragraph.

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One fine day, I entered the same classroom with the same students and the same teachers and the same furniture and lockers, the only thing different was that I had promoted a grade. I kept to myself and didn’t talk to anyone (for six months. My teachers called me mute) and I planned to do that this year as well. But then the same day I found my locker vandalized. My very dramatic teacher gave her lecture and I asked something which my OTHER teacher, who taught me the same subject in private had said, and it contradicted with what that teacher from the school said. She calmly asked me to come to the principal’s office. I knew what I was getting into because a loner kid with no friends being called into the principal’s office is terrifying on its own. I went there and the principal and the teacher grilled me and insulted me for being rude and taking private classes. My principal said, “Do you have doubts about your teacher’s teaching methods and her qualifications?” What I should’ve said was “no” but me, being the honest little angel I am, said, “Yes, because if I lose marks because of what this teacher taught me, my future is at stake.” That made the subject teacher snap and yell at me. I rarely cry, but that day I cried my eyes out in the bathroom, and the peon dragged me to class. OUCH. I said some very rude things to my classmates, left the class and went to the admin’s office, told the administration department to strike my name off the enrolled list in front of me. They hesitated but I yelled at them anyway, so they did. Then I stomped out of the school, called my mom, and got transferred to another school the next day.

Whew, that was a lot to get out of my system. The next day I attended a different school which was on the outskirts of the city. The air was fresh and there were massive trees and fields around, and for the first time, I fell in love with an educational institution. The teachers were amazing, the kids were welcoming and warm (not all of them). I got into a group that was very studious and got my studies on track again. I was much happier here.

Slowly, I began to make friends with people of different grades. I was an active participant in interschool competitions. I built myself an unshakable reputation, and people used to say “Whatever competitions Aurora goes to, it’s impossible not to win”. And I stayed that way. I wasn’t very good at my studies but I tried my best. I was loved by all teachers who taught me (I was the favorite student of the most strict teacher in the school) and also respected by students. Suddenly everyone wanted to be friends with me and because I was new to this phenomenon, I happily made tons of friends.

Good right? WRONG. Turns out, having too many friends is a bad thing. People cannot be happy no matter how much you let them walk over you. Some of my classmates called me an attention seeker, some accused me of cheating on competitions, some called me a friend stealer (which is hilarious, you can’t steal friends. If someone wants to be friends with other people than you, that’s not wrong). My group of friends was supportive and loving.

I completed my O Levels from that school, and despite getting C’s all year, I managed to score 5 A*s and one B in my O levels. I had a B in biology because the teacher’s voice was so soft that I slept in her class. Did I mention I was a backbencher? Yes, I did.

After I finished school, I cut off everyone, like I mentioned before. I still talk to two girls from my group but I disappeared after grade 11 finished. That was important for me so that’s what I did.

But now, I have only 4 friends. One of them is my friend of 13 years. Let’s call her Electron because she is full of energy. She’s a year ahead of me but she’s the ‘mom’ friend, you know, the one friend who thinks they’re everyone’s mom. Another friend of mine is Minnie. She’s an artist, and also my cousin. She moved here not long ago and our friendship stayed strong since then. I have two other friends who are sisters, Fairy and Coco. They’re both a couple years older than me but I know them since I was born (our mothers are best friends).

My point is, don’t try too hard to make friends. In the end, you only need a handful of friends to get by. Having someone you trust and someone who will keep your secrets is crucial while growing up, because you can get lonely at times. My mom is my best friend now because, for the past year or so, the only company I had was her (she has no sense of humor though, which makes me sad). Anyway, having a good time is very important.

Select one day in the week when you forget about studies and work, everything that’s bothering you, and spend it with people who love you. Go to parks (I always feel at ease near nature) or go to the beach if you live in a coastal city like me J. I promise you will feel so much better. I’ve learned in my short life to take responsibility for all my actions, the same goes for you. Treat others like you want to be treated, and have some friends that you know will not give up on you!

That’s it for today. I hope this wasn’t too long, if it was I apologize. I’ll be back tomorrow with hopefully some new stories and some new lessons. Till then, take care and don’t forget to let go of life a bit.

AND FIND GOOD FRIENDS YOU PABO!!