Time for Changes

Friendship Backstory

TW: Sexsual Harassment

Aaliyah's POV:

Marisol and I were the literal definition of two peas in a pot. We were inseparable.

Having all our classes together played a big part in our friendship. We saw eachother literally everday, did everything together, and that was everything to me. She was my bestfriend.

All until this one thing called 'popularity' got in the way.

Popularity was the main reason why our friendship ended.

Marisol and I were in our last year of elementary school and I've heard that many times that the frienships you enter with, aren't always going to be the ones you leave with but, I never listened to that advice because every year, i still had my bestfriend. Literally no one could break us apart, or so I thought.

We ended 5th grade strong and spent the first month of summer together. We would hang out by the beach most of the time since it's close for the both of us and we'd have countless sleepovers. Surprisingly, we made some new friends that were the same age as us and also made some friends that were a little older than us too.

Everything was absolutely perfect until I slowly started to realise that they were only friends with me because of Marisol. I would try to step in and make plans with them and they would automatically ask if Marisol was going to be there and if not, they wouldnt go.

Most of the times when this would happen, I would simply start comparing myself to Marisol. My own bestfriend. I started thinking thoughts like 'Am I boring?' 'How could I become prettier?' 'How could I be more like Marisol?'

This is where my insecurities began...

People would go crazy when Marisol wouldn't arrive to a certain birthday party, people would go crazy if something ever happend to Marisol, people would simply not go to areas because Marisol wasn't going to go.

Marisol slowly but surely began to distance herself from me. She would barely call or text me to hang out anymore and whenever I tried to hang out with her, she would say she was busy. I believed it at first until I would see her post herself with her new friends of them hanging out and having a good time. I'm not saying that she can't be friends with anyone else but to think we were bestfriends, it stung a bit.

I realized that although we made those friends together, I didn't matter. But, I can't blame them. I mean, Marisol was just that girl. That girl that would bring the fun, that girl that was everyone's favorite, that girl that no matter what she did, it looked cool.

Towards the end of summer, I realized that I can't just be dependant on her and I should just try to find something else to do in order to not make this summer feel wasted.

Maybe I'm boring? Maybe I'm not entertaining enough? Maybe I'm the problem? Why don't people like me?

New school, new people, new opportunities for me. I entered 6th grade with an open mind and just hoped for the best. I was new to the school and basically I didn't have a reputation for myself which meant I could make one. This year, I only had two classes with Marisol which was completely fine. I tried to make conversations with her wondering why she stopped talking to me over the summer but she would basically ignore me in the midst of talking.

This went on for 2 months into the school year so I decided to just ignore her as well. Clearly that's what she wanted. Communication is more of my thing, I like to talk things out and hear people out. I've been raised to always speak my mind and communicate to better understand someone's point of view but, I also undertsand that many people aren't very good at communication which is why I let people be.