Finding Friends I Don’t Have to Change For

Oct 6

1 min read

Looking back at middle school, I remember standing in the hallway with the “friends” I had tried so hard to fit in with and hearing them laughing about skipping class, messing with security guards, and acting like middle school didn't even matter like it was just some random placeholder until high school. I knew I should’ve not gone along with it, but I was so terrified of being a loner again. After feeling invisible for years, the fear of losing the first group that was actually nice to me kept my mouth shut.

I convinced myself that just going with the flow is the only way to keep my friends. Everything changed when high school started. We all ended up going to different schools, and we naturally drifted apart. At first, it sucked, but once we stopped talking, that heavy weight of always having to act cool finally gone away.

It gave me space to realize something big which is that real friends shouldn't make you feel like you have to get in trouble just to hang out. Now that I'm in 10th grade, I've gotten way better at spotting peer pressure and I have finally found a group of friends where I never feel pressured to do anything I don't want to do, and I can freely talk to them about whatever is on my mind.

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