Chapter 1: My whole life I went to Shawnee, where I got some of my best friends and    worst enemies. I grew up around some of these kids since preschool and some since kindergarten. Going to school felt so easy because these kids basically knew me my whole life that they didn’t care too much what I looked like in the morning or if my hair was a mess after playing outside. I never cared much about how I looked or what brand of clothing I was wearing around those kids because those kids didn’t care until everyone else did. What do I mean by that? Well I mean when we all came together at Shawnee everyone was so different that if you didn’t fit in with what people thought was cool  you were laughed at. I mean yeah I wouldn’t exactly know so much because I would wear name brand clothes so that didn’t happen but I know a few kids it did happen too. I didn’t exactly move schools just because I thought going to a school where no one would know me would be a good idea. I moved because I wanted to be closer to an older friend of mine and because I wanted to get away from what I thought were toxic people which in reality it was me but we can get into that another time. I moved in 8th grade to a school called Northeastern. When I first got there it was pretty rocky I didn’t know anyone but one person and quite frankly it didn’t get much better. I started getting closer to the only person I actually knew in the friend group and it was a good idea. The only girl I knew her name was Josie and she was actually a really great friend. She let me sit with her at lunch and other classes we had. She would always walk with me to my classes and just help me get to know more people. I’m grateful for Josie although we fell off a lot. She was a great friend and she did a lot for me. However the one thing I’m grateful she did for me was always be my friend even when I barely talked to her. Friends like Josie are friends I wish everyone could have when they first move into a new school. She helped me out so much and I’ll never be able to thank her enough. Although 8th grade was one of the worst years of my life I still managed to get through it because of some amazing people. A lot of crazy stuff happened to me in 8th grade that made me not want to go to school and to not talk to anyone and just wanna stay at home forever. Everyday was so awful and I would hate waking up and going to school and I would try to find some excuse to not go. During this whole time of feeling like this I had one friend who stuck by my side and her name was Riley. Riley and I became friends because of a joke I made and she made a joke back and that's how our friendship started. We had every class together and we were always laughing about something. She made all my bad days so much better and she never realized how much she was doing for me. Everyday with her was so much fun so when she wasn’t at school my days were awful. Through 8th grade she was my best friend and when a whole bunch of stuff went down to the point where my friends that I sat with and my boyfriend at the time hated me for no reason Riley was always there, she let me sit with her at lunch and everything. I am so beyond grateful for her and I always will be. When it came to my grades I was always passing with mostly A’s and B’s. I never wanted to show up but I still knew what I was doing. I would amaze the teachers by passing my tests with perfect scores and not hardly being in class. All in all when it comes to meeting new friends in middle school it's so hard and I definitely would say if you ever just wanted change and was trying to meet new friends either do it in elementary or high school. I’ll tell you why I think highschool is a good idea for trying to meet new friends. Half the people from middle school you don’t really talk too if I'm being honest. You sort of like try and find a brand new set of friends that are either really great for you or awful. 9th grade for me was much better than middle school. Although at the start I didn’t have many friends because I was shy and didn’t wanna talk I finally started to get out there more. I met some amazing people my freshmen year that I will never forget meeting. I had a lot of upperclassmen friends and I also had a lot of friends in my grade too. Freshman year was so much fun and I was so upset to see it end early because of Covid. Riley was still one of my best friends through 9th grade even though we only had Biology together. I can say that if you get yourself out of your shell it definitely helps make you friends. I made a great friend named Makaya who was a grade above me so we didn’t have any classes besides food class and lunch together. But lunch was always so much fun with her and my friends Bri and Tim. Everyday they made me laugh so hard that I didn’t wanna go back to class. The three of them if I’m being honest always had me laughing so much and I would make them laugh so much it was just a never ending circle of laughs. I also had friends like Cassidy and Shelby who were ultimately the people I laughed with the most. It was weird because you can become friends with anyone when you don’t have much in common. For example those two girls are both cheerleaders and I knew nothing about cheer at the time but they still became two of my closests friends and made me laugh so hard during algebra that we would get in trouble. Right before I came into 9th grade I submitted an open enrollment form to Shawnee because I wanted to go back so badly after the awful year I just had.I’m so glad I didn’t get in though because I wouldn’t have met some of the most amazing and funniest people i've ever met. However when Covid hit everything changed. At the beginning of it some of my friends would still text me and talk to me but most of it was just for homework answers. During quarantine I had a group of friends for Northeastern but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be friends with them anymore. However when summer hit and school was out I got a letter saying I was accepted back into Shawnee so I had to make a decision.

Chapter 2:  Over the summer I started hanging out with Destiny and we started getting a lot closer. After hanging out a few times I became friends with her friends and we all became really close. However I was only really ever close with Destiny until I hung out with all of them for the first time which was in August. When I became friends with them I realized that I wanted to go back to Shawnee because I wanted to get closer with them and I missed a lot of my old friends. So I made the decision to go back and it was a really great decision, all of my friends are so much fun to be around. One old friend that I missed a lot was Kaylee. In 7th grade Kaylee and I were really good friends. We fought a few times but we were still on good terms. Although after I moved we didn’t really talk like we used too she was still someone I considered a friend. She was definitely a good friend though by always making me laugh and just acting stupid. She would always stand up for me and I’m thankful we were friends back then because when I moved back it was basically like nothing happened. Now that we’re older being friends is so much better because we're more mature. She’s definitely a great friend that I’m glad I got close to again. Kaylee’s always down to have fun and to do whatever. Hanging out with her is always so amazing because she makes me laugh and we just do stupid things that make me laugh even harder. She’s a friend I tell everything too and even if we aren't on the best of terms all the time I'll always consider her one of my best friends. Moving back to Shawnee was sort of a difficult decision because I didn’t wanna leave the friends I made. It was like I had to choose between people I loved a lot and it was just really hard for me but I think maybe I made the right decision. I became a lot closer with Rheyea and Sydney through group facetime. Just about every night we would facetime and talk about random things and just have a fun time. They always made my nights better and they would always make me laugh non stop. It was definitely harder trying to become closer to them when Covid is going on and you can’t really hangout and go places like you used too. So facetiming them every night was something that definitely got me a lot closer to them. We also had group chats that we would text in all the time and those also helped us to get a lot closer. When it comes to Rheyea she’s probably one of the funniest people i’ve ever met in my entire life. She is always making me laugh non stop and always puts a smile on my face. Even in the most serious situations she always finds some way to make me laugh. Although we don’t hangout much outside of school she is still one of my best friends. She can make any situation better and I’m so glad to have a friend like that around. Rheyea will always answer your calls and just make sure you’re okay. Sydney is also really funny but our friendship is a lot different than me and Rheyea’s. Sydney and I hangout a lot and she's always down for anything, scary movies, skating around, taking pictures and just doing fun stuff. She’s always wanting to hangout and just have a good time. She’s a great friend to be around and she's always down for an adventure which is why we get along so well. She’s always so happy and just someone you want to surround yourself with. All my friends have their own reasons that I’m friends with them and each of them being really important to me. They’ve had a huge impact on life and I don’t think I could ask for better friends. However the one who had the biggest impact on my life was Destiny. Destiny and I became friends at the ending of 7th grade but then I moved schools so we didn’t really talk all like that but we still kept in touch. We started talking again during quarantine and I have no idea why it was just random. We made plans to hangout during the summer and when we did it was really fun. She’s been one of my best friends since summer and I’m so grateful she’s in my life. She helped me have new friends and a lot of great memories. Even though we fight and argue she is still one of my best friends. She’s made me laugh and cry and I'm just so grateful to have someone so amazing like her around. I’ve made so many great memories with her that no one could ever compare too. She’s definitely funny but nobody gets me like her. We haven’t been close friends for long but it feels like years and that's why she's had such a big impact on my life. Hanging out with her is always so much fun because there is always something to do. I love hanging out with all of my friends especially when we’re all  together. I always feel so happy hanging out with them separately too because they’re just amazing people. However changing my friend group from my old one to my new one was pretty difficult and I still miss a lot of my old friends. Some I miss more than others but I still think about them all the time. I hope that the friends I have now continue to be my friends even later in life because they make me genuinely happy. Although making new friends is hard I am so glad I got lucky and got to meet some of them before school started. All my friends always make sure each other are okay and they’re always there for each other. They’re overall just really caring and fun people. Even though we argue all the time I’m really glad I can call them my friends. Moving back to Shawnee I think was a good idea for me. Although I don’t like doing hybrid learning I like that I get to see my friends and make new ones too. I’ve definitely learned a lot from all the friends I have had so if I’m being honest I think moving schools and being around a completely different environment is a nice change. I would say to anyone who is trying to get new friends that you just have to put yourself out there and most likely say something first. I wish I would’ve done it sooner if I’m being honest. I still don’t do it much but it’s always something that's smart to do when you’re trying to find someone to be friends with. All in all I am so beyond grateful for the friendships I've had that were good and bad because they’ve both taught me a lesson.The people in my life right now are so important to me and I want them to be a part of my life forever because they make me so happy. They’re definitely people you would want to surround yourself with especially on a bad day.