the story

When I was little I was quite shy, whenever we would go out in public I would hide behind my mom thinking no one could see me. I wouldn’t talk to anyone unless I had known them my whole life. I didn’t make friends easily because I wouldn’t want to talk to them. School soon started for me this meant no family members to hide behind. I would have to talk to people. Slowly I started to grow out of it and I became less shy. Within a few weeks of school I had made some friends throughout elementary school I had these friends and I thought to myself I would never lose these friends. I'll always be able to trust them.

The bell rings its the first day of jr. high. Some people who were in grade 12 come and talk to us. They tell us to look around, see the people who are friends now and say, “Those people who are your friends now won’t be by the time you graduate.”

Me and my friends look at each other and laugh, “There's no way we’ll ever leave each other we’ll be friends forever even after we graduate.”

Before we knew it, grade 7 was over, and grade 8 was about to start. Grade 8 would hold something very different then what we were used to. My close friends and I were all in the same class for the first time, the start of this year being different. Some boys who were new to the school were also a part of our class. Ellie being the outgoing person she is introduced herself right away, making them her new friends. I didn’t mind her making new friends, but soon after she came and introduced them to me. “Nora this is Lyndon and Darius,” she explains, “they are new here and don’t know anyone, so we are now their friends.”

“I am not okay with this, you know I don’t like people,” I whispered over my shoulder to her. She ignored me and continued on towards her desk.

Later that day at lunch I was eating with Ellie when those boys and a few friends they knew from years before joined us. I was fine with it. I didn’t have to talk to them or anything. Soon I noticed a familiar face… was I just imagining it or was my old friend sitting there, across the table from me. We didn’t say a word to each other.

The next day it happened again. And the day after that. And the day after that. Eventually we were sitting right beside each other. I tried to ignore him. I couldn’t just start talking to him like I’ve known him forever and he never left. No I stayed my shy self and didn’t talk. I never talked. Little did I know someday he would be the only one I could talk to.

Days later I finally got the courage to talk to him not knowing how much he had really changed in the past 6 years. Not knowing how much I had changed. We were completely different people then who we were before. It had been 6 years, we were now teenagers of course we had changed. I wasn’t very good at small talk so I just decided to say, “hi Parker,” he didn’t answer me so I said, “ sorry I just felt like we needed to talk, because we haven't really talked since school started."

We soon became friends, or at least people who talked. We slowly started talking more and more each day, but we still weren't that close. Not as close as we had used to be anyway. As time went on I tried talking more but I couldn't. I'd say something to my mom,"I have some friends who are boys."

"Did you hear that Nora has a boyfriend," she completely changed what I said.

I'd tell my other friends that I liked someone,"hey Ellie I so have a crush on Darius."

"I think you shouldn't date until after college," she ignored the fact that I'm my own person I can make my own decisions, I can decide when I'm ready to date.

I soon decided I wasn't comfortable talking to them if they were going to tell me what I should do, or make fun of what I say. I shut down and keep to myself hope that I don't implode. Until I was able to find someone who I could talk to, I would just keep to myself. At first keeping to myself was hard. I wanted to be an open person, but I didn't have anyone I could talk to. After time it became easy. It was now normal for me.

By hiding my truth I started learning other people's truths. I learned some of them were similar to me. Their problems weren't exactly the same, but they were close enough. It was almost the end of grade 8 when I found myself talking to Parker. I was finally opening up. I felt I could trust him. He didn't tell anyone he didn't make fun of any of it.

I hadn't noticed at first, but Parker had been opening up to me too. He trusted me as I did him. It was like we were meant to be in each other's lives. Like we were meant to find each other. After a fine time opening up to each other I found myself changing. I was becoming the me that was hiding from the world. I was becoming the me I had always dreamed of being. Parker was now the number one person I talked to. I became an open book to someone who wasn't afraid to share how they felt, or to share their ideas. When someone told me a secret, me being the person I was, I would tell Parker because I was an open book now I couldn't keep anything in anymore, and chances are if someone told me a secret they weren't keeping hidden from people. Even before I became such an open book my friends knew I couldn't keep secrets.

Parker and I got pretty close. We could easily talk to each other and we were so similar,so we decided to date. There was no way you could get a stronger relationship, we always agreed on everything we never fought. We were together and we were happy. Trust is hard to find, and people will easily break your trust, but if you find the right person never let them go. The right person could be in front of you for years without you knowing it, but you never know until you put yourself out there and talk. After you learn who you are you shouldn't be afraid to tell others let everyone know your truth.

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