I glanced into the night sky. The bright full moon silently sits in the middle of my view, peeking out behind a glaze of light, slow-moving clouds, painting a calm, peaceful picture in my mind. My backyard looked dark and eerie compared to the miraculous, bright circle shining through the darkness in the sky. Black covered the ground. Someone would not be able to could not tell where the concrete ends and the grass begins. The pool and huge rocks shown through the darkness at the far end. In the pool, I could see the reflection of the moon, almost dancing as the little ripples obscured the perfect circle. I stretched on the mangled, aged, light brown couch, tucking my hands beneath the vibrant, new, light blue pillow. Everything was calm.

But, my thoughts raced in my head. The never-ending train of scenarios to dig myself out of a hole I made. Gazing at the pool, I replayed the situation again. My best friend’s existence in my life keeps me going most days. We have been best friends since we were little kids, running around her front yard, always getting into some kind of trouble. Our weeks consisted of studying together on Mondays, getting ice cream from our favorite creamery on Fridays, and shopping at the mall on Saturdays. Those were the good days. Until she changed her personality to snobbish and egotistic. After getting accepted into a wealthy, popular university, she started acting differently, trying to fit the mold of her college. I hate snobs. The never-ending gloating of their self-importance, believing that they are superior to their peers, showing off their excessive wealth, and putting others down contribute to their exclusive, haughty behavior. When my best friend started becoming one, I distanced myself from her as I could not deal with her arrogant personality. The wind started to lightly blow, causing the water to become disoriented.  Tears started streaming down my face as I remembered a couple of days ago. My best friend strutted with her new, popular friends down the hallways of high school. With her fancy new clothes and jewelry, she looks and acts different than three months ago. I almost ran to catch up with her, as I wanted to ask if we could still study together. As I started to say hello, she pushed past me, elbowing my side on the way. Her friends cracked up at my best friend's actions. She smiled at them and stalked off to class. That was the last time I talked to her. I solemnly walked to class, head down to avoid eye contact with anyone, cheeks red from embarrassment, feet dragging across the dirty, school floor. At that moment, our friendship ended.

The temperature started dropping. I curled up, almost in a ball, trying to trap body heat to stay warm during a December night. Still staring at the pitch black ground, my mind shifted to my mental health. The long nights trying to finish college applications, the long days at school trying to keep up with assignments, the sleepless nights, and the breaking up with friends has all contributed to the increase of stress within my life. My grades started plummeting. Lectures and tears were common as my parents did not fully understand the complexity of my life. Coping with stress became harder and harder to manage. My eyes started to water again, thinking about how much work I have to do instead of sitting in my cold backyard, letting my mind wander. I tried getting up off the couch, but my body would not listen. I was stuck to the couch like glue on paper. Adjusting the pillow under my head, I realized the ripples in the pool settled. The reflection of the moon was almost a perfect circle.

After a while of sitting still on that couch, I realized the solution to my problems. I need confidence. Building confidence would solve both problems, the effects of breaking my life long friendship and coping with stress from school, by trusting myself, standing up for what I believe in. Trusting myself would help me cope with the breakup as I would find ways to handle the loss, forcing me to be a less stressed out person. Overcoming adversity is important. I have to be my own individual, not following the leader. My individualism comes with trusting myself to make the right decisions. I could not trust my best friend anymore as she moved on, changing her personality to match her peers. I had to trust myself. I needed to trust myself. From this moment on, I will trust myself to make my own decisions, exhibiting my confidence and courage.

I glanced into the night sky. The moon, now higher in the sky, shining directly over me. The clouds disappeared from view, giving way to a thousand stars, glistening through the darkness of the sky, perfectly spaced apart, surrounding the complete circle. The ground, now lighter than before as my eyes got used to the dark atmosphere. One could tell where the concrete ends and grass begins. The earthy sight caused a reassuring feeling as I made out the fireplace in the back corner of our backyard. The ripples disappeared. In the pool, I could see the perfect circle of the moon. Everything was calm.