Recently, my sister learned one of the hardest lessons that high school and life have to offer: just because you think someone is your "friend" doesn't mean that they actually are. People are selfish, flaky, and mean, and there's a big difference between having these qualities and having a bad day. In high school, you see this first hand, and find out that people and friends are cyclical, and always-changing like the weather.
While I've had enough of these friends and experiences to write an encyclopedia sized memoir, my sister has not. I can't imagine what it must've been like for her to see me going through what she's going through now and not understand... I wouldn't be surprised if she thought I was the worst friend anyone could have. And maybe I am. Maybe it's me. But at the end of the day, there comes a time when the cons of a friend or friendship out weigh whatever the pros might be. It's a hard experience to go through, but necessary all the same.
While I've had enough of these friends and experiences to write an encyclopedia sized memoir, my sister has not. I can't imagine what it must've been like for her to see me going through what she's going through now and not understand... I wouldn't be surprised if she thought I was the worst friend anyone could have. And maybe I am. Maybe it's me. But at the end of the day, there comes a time when the cons of a friend or friendship out weigh whatever the pros might be. It's a hard experience to go through, but necessary all the same.
I have a very noticeable scar on my forearm and hand, and after I accidentally cut myself, my dad told me hysterically in the car on the way to the hospital that the worst part of it was that it's me whose hurt, and not him. He said that he would take worst injury imaginable to keep anything like that from happening to me or Mady. At the time, while feeling even more nauseous at the thought, I thought those feelings were reserved for parents and children, until I was left to helplessly watch Mady be rejected and then blamed by someone who was supposed to be her best friend. Seriously, I would take the worst critique and/or ridicule from anyone in her place, if I could. But I can't. And all it boils down to is that those who are mean, selfish, flaky and immature, always will be. And the only way to cope is to rise above. To see these people for what they are (after you go through several containers of ice cream and boxes of tissue), and realize it's over. It's over and (hopefully) they're gone forever and you have the strength, the hopeful kindness and class to pick yourself up and move on. The bad news: this isn't the only time you'll meet someone of this caliber and probably have to go through this procedure. The good news: good people exist. They're out there. All you have to do is, in the words of a certain wise best friend of mine "trim the weeds", and try to find the good ones and keep them close.
Mady, if you're reading this, forget her. You didn't do anything wrong. I know you want to say something ten times worse than what she said to you, but she's not worth it. She doesn't deserve any of your words, time or effort, don't waste it on someone like her. Her sense of entitlement, self-consciousness and possessiveness is hers, and not something you should have ever been burdened with. You and I both know what a mistake she made, and that she knows it too, and she'll have to live with it forever. You're better off, and now your senior year and everything to come will be awesome.
