The next morning, I got up, ate breakfast, and headed to my first class of the day. As I was sitting at one of the tables, a boy my age came up to me. He asked, "Are you saving this seat for someone?" I said, "Oh, no, I'm not. I don't really know anyone here. I'm from a different state." He said, "I see. Do you mind if I sit here?" I said, "I don't mind." He sat beside me. Once everyone arrived and was seated, the professor explained what would be covered in the class. He then said, "You may talk for the time we have left." I decided to talk with the boy sitting next to me. "What's your name?" I asked. He replied, "Hillel. What's yours?" I said, "Letty." He said, "That's a nice name." I said, "It's okay, I guess." He said, "Okay, you guess? You mean you don't like it?" I said, "Well, I sometimes find that it doesn't fit me. Letty means joy, and my life wasn't always filled with joy." Hillel said, "But there's no guarantee that life is always a bed of roses." I asked, "Who told you that?" He said, "My grandfather." I said, "That sounds very wise." Later, when it was time for lunch, I encountered Hillel again. We decided to sit next to each other. He said, "Tell me. Where are you from?" I said, "Well, I lived in Kentucky for a long time, but I was born in Mississippi." He said, "I'm from New York." I asked, "City or State?" He said, "State. My grandfather ran a deli. My father took over. He was hoping that I would take over one day, but my passion is music. My parents didn't like my decision to go into music, but they're supportive of me." I said, "I understand. My parents didn't agree with my choice to go into music, but they initially support it." Hillel smiled. He said, "It sounds like we have a lot in common." I said, "I guess we do. I never had any true friends. None of them understood my love of music." He said, "I never had very many friends, if I even had any. I got bullied a lot." I said, "I did, too." At the end of the day, we parted ways, hoping we would meet again the next day.
TO BE CONTINUED
TO BE CONTINUED
After a long time of getting bullied, I began to consider self-harm. I confessed this consideration to Zoe and Gavin. Zoe said, "Please don't hurt yourself. It's not the answer." Gavin said, "Zoe's right. If you hurt yourself, you'll have to deal with all those scars. Why do you want to hurt yourself anyway?" I began to cry. He hugged me and said, "It's all right. You can tell me." I talked about all the bullying I was facing. Zoe said, "Alyssa, those bullies are just losers. You have family and friends who love you." Gavin said, "That's right. You don't have to hurt yourself. Any time something is bothering you, tell us." I said, "Okay." Zoe said, "If you hurt yourself, you won't be the only one who hurts. We'll be hurt, too." I said, "I don't want to hurt you all." We shared a group hug. Over the years, I gained some friends and lost some, too, but I still had Zoe and Gavin. They will be my closest friends until the end of time.
THE END
THE END