Peer pressure is not in my dictionary | Teen Ink

Peer pressure is not in my dictionary

April 9, 2011
By Brittbyheart SILVER, Yucca Valley, California
Brittbyheart SILVER, Yucca Valley, California
6 articles 9 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
No matter what you do in life, in the end, the only person that will take impact is you.


I stood, staring at the morning dew on the grass, with my fists in my coat pockets. Birds were finding the worms and seeds, cherping as they hunted. A dog stretched in the back yard of his home and then plopped back down to sleep. The next few minuets were quite as the bus made its way to the bus stops. Finally, it was my turn to get picked up. The bus doors slid open as the diver greeted me with a friendly hello. I looked at her and shyly smiled back.

Students were quiet, and did not seam to notice anything. I took a seat near the back and stared out the window. Houses came and gone, and more students entered the cold bus. Still, everyone was lost in their own train of though, for the noise level did not rise. I messed with a lose string on my shirt and wondered what today would bring me. My french class would be a drag, as it always was. I had a test in math and english, so I was not looking forward to those classes either. Basically, I was only on this bus for one reason, to see my friends.

My friends are the only things that keep me sane. Call me dramatic, but it is true. I see them five days out of seven, and it never seams to be enough. Altho my body aches for more time with them, I take what I can. I step off the bus, and just like that, I am hit. One by one, they come to me like a swarm of ants. Heads are bowed when people see my face. Mouths are dropped when they see what I am wearing. No one can come close to me, but they all try.

“Is she here?” I asked a near-by follower. My eyes flutter from person to person when I saw the follower shrug. I stood at the top of the stairs, and watched people chattering among themselves. Zoning in on the one gal I cannot live with out, I block out every sound around me. People walked by, making sure not to get in my birds-eye-view. My concentrated face turns soft when out of nowhere, I spot her. Thankfully, she sees me too, so I do not have to worry about catching up to her in this busy zoo.

She meets me half way and we hug, saying our “Good morning”. We laugh and smile and talk about stupid stuff that we will not remember the next day. People try to join in on our conversation of pointless stuff, but we shoo them away and pretend that we are planing to create something amazing. She knows me and I know her like the back of our hands. We share ideas, clothes, makeup and most important, our love for Brad Pit.

We are the queen bee's of this honey hive. We eat at the lunch table where everyone dies to eat at. We wear everything and anything that we find fun and flirty. No one can separate us... except for one thing. The school bell. We only have two classes together, but we make those two hours worth it. First period fly's by, as does second. There is a ten minuet break after third, which of course we spend together. She hooks her arm with mine, and we walk and talk like there is no tomorrow. Forth period, the slowest period ever, comes right before lunch.

DING, the bell rings and out comes the chaos. High schoolers rush to get in line for lunch, other rush to play football on the field. I find my girl, and the thirty minuet time period begins with a boom.
We cut in line to get whatever is for lunch that day, we eat fast, and then go chill with our other friends. We reached up with three jocks who were all laughing away at some joke one of them cracked.

I leaned against the railing of a ramp and watched students walk by. Kids knew not to come up to me and bother us. It was kind of funny to see. I could stand in the middle of the walk way during passing periods, and kids hurrying to class do not even give me a dirty look as they pass around me.

“Hey watch this,” one of the boys elbowed his friend and walked over to an outside table with a few teens sitting on it. I came back to reality and waited to see what this jock was going to do. The five of us looked at him; but did not really add two plus two to get the outcome.

The jock said some words that I could not make out. He laughed and pulled a backpack out from under one innocent kids arms. He took a few steps back as the kid reached out for his sack. He unzipped the old, faded black backpack and pulled out a notebook, throwing the pack on the dirt.
He opened the book and scanned through it before he read it out loud. His laughter grew louder, and the kids head went down. The other kids on the table just stared at their feet, or at the jock; not knowing what to do. With a roaring laugh, the jock read something else and you could see the kid just grind his teeth and cringe with every word out of the boys mouth. Everyone around me giggled and pointed. Some random teens walked up around the table to hear what the jock was reading. Most kids had their hand shoved into their pockets, or crossed their arms. I stood glaring at them. My queen had a smile on her face, but it was a smile of guilt. The breeze blew my hair across my face, and I could smell the kids shame. His hands tightened into a ball, and the jock was still standing a few feet away from him, reading out loud his personal journal. With every word, anger grew inside this boy.

I reached down, and swung my book bag onto my shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the table. I kept my gaze on the jock. His back was towards me, but everyone around him saw me coming. I walked up behind him and snatched the book out of his hands. He brought up his fist into the air, breaking the space between us. His eyes went from a hatred glare to an apologetic glance. “Are you planing to do something there big boy?” I kept my gaze on him as I handed the book back to the kid sitting next to me.

He dropped his fist and took another step back, “Aw come on, we were just having some fun. Right guys?” he shrugged to the crowed as they remained silent. No one seamed to move except for my best friend. Her eyes widened and she took a step in my direction but her stance was stiff. My eyes were like lasers in the jocks head. He held up his hand yet again, but this time, his palms were to me and he took three steps back before he walked away. “If you ever do something like this again,” I called after him, “I swear to god, it won't be this easy to get away.”

People stared, wide eyed. Maybe, just maybe, this was the first time on the face of the earth, that a goddess has stood up for a peasant. I looked over my shoulder to see the young boy stare at me. His eyes wet, but he held back his feelings. I sat next to him, my butt not completely on the bench. I placed may hand on the side of his face, feeling his shaggy hair under my warm hand. “Are you okay?” I tried to comfort him. He sat, speechless, and all I could do was smile.

Hearing a girl walk up behind me, she demanded, “What in the world was that!” I looked into the boys eyes for a second longer, then I stood up to see my best friend beaming at me. “That my friend,” I said fixing my book bag straps, “was a fight against bulling. But you were in luck, you had a once-in-a-life-time experience.”

People laughed around me, but the chuckle of the young man surprised me the most. He stood up, and as he retrieved his belongings, he placed a smile on his face. His friends got up and started walking away but he stayed just long enough to say, “You probably are to royal to be hearing my voice,” He looked down and then back up at me. “But, no one has ever stood up for me like that before.” He smiled. that same shy smile I gave to the bus driver earlier that day, and walked away without saying another word to me.

Most of us stood still, shocked. My best friend hooked her arm back with mine and walked me to another spot to hang out. To this day, it ceases to amaze me how many of us as a society, can stand to let bullying happen without any punishment. Kids get picked on 24/7 around the world. How long will it take before people step in BEFORE the kid commits suicide? It may seam like the bully only did something small. But, doing something small, everyday for periods of years, turns into a huge problem. You do not have to be popular or even know what the situation is to step in a do the right thing. Because the ten seconds it takes to say “enough”, you will turn into a life-time hero for that special someone.


The author's comments:
I see kids getting picked on all the time. But why? What makes one person so great from the other person? In my eyes, we are seperated by our currage and integrity, not your popularity and looks.

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This article has 2 comments.


on Apr. 21 2011 at 8:51 pm
Brittbyheart SILVER, Yucca Valley, California
6 articles 9 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
No matter what you do in life, in the end, the only person that will take impact is you.

Ya, I was just so excited about this peice of work, that I had to write it that night! And I totaly forgot about rechecking it a few times, and seeing all the mistakes I could have fixed are irritating me. lolbut thanks anyways

on Apr. 21 2011 at 5:01 pm
it was good. my suggestion is spell check, & more details