I WAS BULLIED

Three weeks later

Three weeks...three weeks after my mom pressed charges against the girls and their families who made my life hell. Things seemed to dyed down for quite a while....or so I thought. Rumors got out quick that some of the girls got sent to Juvie or detention camp. Some of the other girls who were close with Shakia, Nyasia, Payshae, shot angry glares at me because their best friends got in a lot of trouble for bullying me. Let's take a flashback of what happened

This was one of the hardest moments of my life when I came face to face with them once again.

Courthouse

I sat on the other side of the courtroom with my mom and my auntie Charita and Uncle Varnell. On the other row, were the girls and their parents. They are were angry and scared at the same time. Angry at me for busting them and scared about their punishments. I felt my heart beating fast that day, my fingers and eyes twitching, my hands sweaty. My mom rubbed my shoulders

Mom
It's going to be alright sweetie. It's going to be alright.

I remained calm and relaxed for a quick five minutes.

Judge

Ms.Beckwith please give a statement about the encounters you've experienced with these young ladies in your school.

I gave a long statement and explained to the judge everything that I have been through. Every name call, confrontation, the cafeteria incident, my birthday, the cyberbullying messages, my suicide attempt, etc. I felt Shakia and Payshae glaring at me and breathing heavily. Nyasia, Dajannay, and Brianna looked trembled and hesitant. After I was finished the judge asked me "Do you want to ask your tormentors anything, Ms. Beckwith?"

I turned to look at them. On the outside, I was being brave, keeping my head up high, but on the inside, I was terrified and nervous about their responses.

Why? I asked.

Why me? What did I ever do to you all to make you pick on me? I never did anything to any guys. Why pick on me? Why?! my voice cracked. I couldn't fight back the tears. My voice was high, tears poured down my face, I was angry all in one.

But...

To my dismay, they didn't say a word. They looked down in despair with guilty, angry, and somewhat sad looks on their faces. Not a single word was uttered from neither of them. But all could say to them was "I forgive you all for myself but I will never forget the traumatizing nightmare you all put me through". I sat back down next to my mother as the judge began to discuss the girl's punishments.

Judge

"I am truly sorry you had to go through a lot of bullying Ms. Beckwith. You seem like a bright, smart, creative, nice girl and no one deserves to be bullied by anyone"

1/2 later

The Judge announced the punishments of my tormentors. For starters, each girl got 3 years probation and they were banned all social media accounts. He sentenced them all to 1,000 hours of community service and Shakia and Nyasia had to attend anger management classes. The principal of the school announced that the girls will be placed on long term suspension for two weeks and banned from participating in extracurricular activities for the rest of the school year and next year. Also, she announced that they will be automatically switched out of their classes into another all-girls class.

After their punishments, I felt a sigh of relief. I witnessed their parents take their cell phones and iPods. The girl's parents apologized for their daughter's behaviors and told us that they will be even more punished at home. We all left the courtroom and I was finally able to breathe again.

Present time

So there I was back at school, a week after the sentencing, as usual like any school, rumors begin to spread. Many students thought the girls got sent to jail or expelled which of course was just middle school bullshit. A few of their friends from other classes didn't say anything to me because they knew what had happened but all they did was glare because I could tell they were pisses at me from getting their friends in trouble, but I didn't let their glares bother me. I just focused on me, my friends, and school. I continued to on to do so and everything became peaceful for a while.

Many classmates came to check on me to see if I was better after my suicide attempt. Of course, word got out about that. Many of them were happy that I was alive and better. I received hugs, high fives, good advice from classmates and friends. My teachers and hall sweep security comforted me. Even some 8th graders heard what happened and told me if they had known and came face to face with my tormentors, they would've stepped in and kicked their asses. I slightly chuckled at that but was really touched to have so many people who cared about me and had my back.

But I learned that it's ok to have people stick up for you but in the end, you have to stick up for yourself and that's exactly what I had to do. From that day, I told myself "I'm not gonna let them pick on me anymore. I will not let them push me around me ANYMORE!!!

I returned home later that day and told my mom I want to start looking for karate classes again today. Back in Elementary, I took Karate classes and became a yellow belt but my karate class ended due to finance issues.  After an hour of searching, we found one, applied, and I became enrolled for the class that started in two weeks. I was excited and prepared to learn self-defense to protect myself from future, life-threatening encounters.