5th grade. The worst year of my entire life. Sure, when I got on those crutches, everyone was nice to me and all, but the nice facade ended when I got off them.

I should introduce myself first. Ever since I was little, loved reading and drawing, although I sucked at it. I had this large group of "friends" that I hung out with everyday. And you can believe the quotation marks around "friends".

It started after I got off of crutches. I played kick ball with a bunch of people, but they stopped playing sometime in the 2 months I was on crutches. That's what I did at recess, and I didn't have anyone to talk to. The people I hung out with before all had to stay in still. I had no one really.

My group of "friends" started ignoring me at lunch. They'd talk and talk, but always leave me out of the conversation. I was known as the girl who always had a smile on her face, which I still most of the time do, but that year, most of the time it was fake.

I got ignored. Whenever I tried getting my friends to notice me, the just kept talking about stuff that I personally didn't like. I brought school work and books to lunch. I became closed off, but with the amount of reading and studying I did, I became who I am today.

But that's when the rumors started.

Around that time, I had just found out my aunt had cancer. Rumors spread around about how I was a crybaby and how I was actually really stupid, but my parents did my work for me. That's why I was always studying, to get better at school.

I ignored them at first, but they kept coming. I found out who started them and said right to their face, "I swear to god, I will hurt you if you spread more rumors about me. They aren't true, and you have no idea what's going on in my life right now. No idea what I'm going through. You're making my life worse, and if I kill myself, it'd be blamed on you."

The rumors stopped after that. I still got ignored, but people were afraid to mess with me. Well, most of the time at least.

One day, a group of girls that I like to call "The Bakas" pushed me out of the shade. And I went back to sitting there, since it was hot as hell. The girls--I mean, the bakas, used physical force to get me out. And what I mean by that is that they kicked me and jabbed me in the stomach till I left. That's when I really broke down.

I told the guidance counselor about what happened, but since the people who bullied me were "perfect little angels" they didn't get in trouble. At all. Not even a warning.

When I finally got out of 5th grade, I nearly jumped for joy. And I may have completely scribbled out the name out that leader girl one everything, since she was in some of my classes.

I had a blank slate in 6th grade. I made new friends and had fun. I became who I was.

Because of the bullying, I am who I am today. I wouldn't be smart and a bookworm and a bit closed off. I'd be someone completely different, someone that I'd probably hate.

That's my bullying story. I know, I am kind of giving a bit of credit to the bullies for making me who I am today, but all of them are assholes. If you're bullied, talk to someone you trust. Not those (stupid) guidance counselors that don't do anything most of the time. Talk to your favorite teacher, a friend's parent, anyone you trust. And if you don't have anyone to trust, talk to your principal. For me, at least, they're always there to listen.

Thanks for reading.