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Egregious. Daunting. Ghastly. It was the
day she saw her for the last time. She was
definitely involved, and she knew it. “Could this day
get any worse?” she thought to herself. First, her friend
was furious with her. Then, her friend moved away. She let
her tears of agony and anguish flow right out of her. That
girl was me.
Although I was only in third grade at the
time, that day still comes to me with special clarity, as
I pondered it in my mind and heart. My friend, Emma, had been
bullied since the first day of school. I knew about it, right
from the beginning, but never took action. Although there
was this little peevish voice in my head that kept reiterating,
“Do the right thing. Tell somebody,” I couldn’t.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to; I just wasn’t
allowed to. I wasn’t permitted to free Emma from all
her misery. “You tell one soul, and you’re dead
meat,” the bully said. It was a threat, and I had accepted
it. Kids could be so cruel. I knew my friend was hurt, physically
and mentally.
Emma urged me to tell somebody, but I was
too terrified to do anything. “Please tell someone. I
beg of you. If I tell, the bully’s will deride me even
more. You’re different. You can tell someone!” Emma
would plead with me everyday, but I chose to ignore her request.
I was afraid that if I got involved, my life would become
just as bad as Emma’s, maybe even worse.
Time flew by quickly, and my life was spiraling
downhill. It was the middle of the school year, and nobody
knew what I was going through, nobody. I felt as if I were
keeping a secret, which if revealed could dramatically change
my life. Everyday, Emma would have to face the bully. I figured
that if I kept to myself everything, I knew, my life wouldn’t
be as dreadful as Emma’s. But, I had it just as bad.
I could see in her face that Emma had just
about had it. I thought she was angry with the bully, but
it turned out that she was mad at me. “You know, I thought
you were my friend. I thought you would help me out. I bet
if that bully drove me to my grave, you wouldn’t care.”
she blurted into my face one day after school.
I stared at her dumfounded. “You know
I can’t tell anyone.” She nodded her head slowly
as she said, “Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m
moving!” I couldn’t believe it. I started crying
helplessly at the thought of my only friend, leaving me once
and for all. I had never felt so desolate in my life.
The next day, I went to get Emma so we could
walk to school together, but she was gone. Her house was empty!
She didn’t say goodbye or anything. She had left me there,
without a goodbye. There was a note pinned to her door that
read, “ To: Ann.” I didn’t have the courage
to read it at that time, so I put it in my backpack.
In school, we were discussing our work for
math, the subject that usually thrilled me. But I just couldn’t
concentrate. I had to read Emma’s note.
“I hope you know how much I hurt
And what I had to go through.
I wished that you would tell
But I guess it was over you.
I really considered you a good friend
But when you broke my heart
That was the end!”
The poem gave me the strength to do what
I should have done earlier. I told Mrs. Tokees about the bully
after class. The bully was then suspended and transferred
to a new school. If only I had the courage to do that before.
Now that I look back at this incident, I wonder, was Emma
really worth losing? I could have saved Emma from all her
pain and misery, but I didn’t. I had the option of either
saving Emma or keeping silent, and I had obviously chosen
the wrong one.
If you are ever in this situation, and have
the choice of keeping quiet or standing up to free someone
from their pain and sorrow, do the right thing. Remember,
you have the option; you just have to make the right choice.
It might just be enough to save a friend and stop a bully!
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