The Bullying Project: Taylor's Story

Taylor’s story

Introduction

Looking back now, I would have never guessed that a biology class would be the place that would change my life completely. Who would have thought that the girl who nobody notices and is always quiet, would be the girl who would show me a world in which I never knew existed. Hidden in her own shadows, and beaten down by the judgmental view of her peers, she pushed through each day and fought to make it in the world. Day after day I know she must have felt like there was another way out, yet she pushed on trying to fight for her right to live. Without her, I’m not sure I would have ever gained the self-confidence, I have today. Though we’ve had rough patches when we weren’t sure what would happen next, we made it through it and pushed, trying to make our friendship last. Walking in the doorway that day, I doubt I knew the importance of the friendship I was about to gain, and never really knew it until it was almost gone, but I can tell you one thing, I will never regret it. Never did I even begin to think that this girl could change my life so dramatically, and that’s why our friendship is so important. We don’t care about our social status anymore, because what we almost lost, and what we’ve gained through this incredible experience is just unbelievable.

This was her life, her fears, and I wanted to show you the things that are happening around you, that you can’t see. Things that people push aside to deal with later but never really do. Things that go unseen, and shunned so that the victims stay in the dark. This is her experience through a time where no one heard her cries, and how she struggled each day just to barely survive the next. This is her pain, her despair, her worst nightmares that pushed us to be the strong individuals that we are today. This is Taylor’s story.

Chapter 1

The bell rang loudly and echoed through the hallway. It was the first day of second semester, and I was running down the science hallway with Izzy, trying to find Mrs. Hitchen’s biology class. We both ran quickly, as our breaths grew short and we started to pant. Looking on each side we desperately tried to find her room. I heard from a student in her class last year that she was mean and counted tardies on the first day. I looked left to see Mrs. Hitchen’s name boldly printed next to her door. I stopped and grab Izzy’s arm and pulled her to the door. Opening it slowly, I was relieved to see the entire class standing in the front of the room, being assigned seats. We snuck in the room and hid in the crowd, slowly shutting the door so she wouldn’t hear. Once we were sure we weren’t caught, we let out a sigh of relief and started to talk.

“Okay that was too close Izzy. You know I love perfect attendance. Next time I say we’re not fixing your hair in the bathroom, just listen.”

“Hey, it would have only been one tardy, calm down.”

She smiled, and I didn’t want to start anything, so I laughed back. The teacher called the class to be quiet, and everyone turned to her and grew quite.

“Okay class, welcome to biology. In case you guys didn’t already know, my name is Mrs. Hitchen’s. When I call your name, I’ll assign you to your seats.”

The entire class groaned and groups of friends began to complain. Mrs. Hitchen’s started calling names and I turned to Izzy.

“I really hope we get to sit next to each other, or at least near each other.”

“Totally, I don’t know anyone in this class but you. I hope I don’t have to sit next to a freak.”

I laughed with her, but that comment left me kind of feeling bad, almost guilty. We were about to talk about our others classes but the teacher called out Izzy’s name and she gave me the “sorry got to go” look. I watched her walk to the far left corner of the room, and take a seat next to a tall, skinny boy with blonde hair and glasses. She gave me a disgusted look and slide her chair away from him, pushing herself as far from him as she could. I shrugged at her, and listened carefully, hoping I’d get the seat across from her. I didn’t. I stood up there for God knows how long, until she finally called me to the last seat, on the complete opposite side from Izzy.

I slumped to my seat and dramatically plopped myself onto the tall round stool. I hadn’t even looked to see who my partner was because I was too busy making faces at Izzy. We were laughing and making disgusted faces back and forth and she even started to make fun of the boy sitting next to her. I laughed at her. I didn’t know what else to do, but inside I felt really bad for making fun of him. I mean I didn’t even know this kid, yet here I am making fun of the way he looks.

I tried not to think about Izzy. I know she has flaws, but we’ve been friends for a long time and i wouldn’t want to jeopardize it by calling her out. The teacher began talking about what she excepted in her classroom, and what we’d be learning this semester. I tried to listen but for some reason the comment Izzy made about her partner made me feel guilty and bad inside. I tried to push away the feeling and listen to what the teacher was saying. My mind was jumbled around, one part was saying that I shouldn’t be okay with what izzy’s doing, the other was saying that it doesn’t matter, it was a funny joke. I shook my head and continuously tried to focus on Mrs. Hitchen’s words. I only picked up a few like, I’ll pass them out toward the end of class, or hey you in the back, stop talking. I was starting to get annoyed, why I was interrupted by the muffled laughs of izzy behind me. Great I thought, who was she making fun of this time.

I slowly turned around to see her holding in a laugh. Her face turned a slight shade of pink and she pointed at my partner. Like I had already said I hadn’t even looked at my partner yet, I was too busy fighting with my brain on what I should think about Izzy. I turned slightly to the right to see a girl hunched over on the black lab table, with her head on her arms. She worn a worn out purple and black striped jacket that was a tad bit too big for her. She was also wearing ripped blue jeans with too many holes to count, and torn worn out black converse that look like they seen there last days. She had ear buds that ran from her ear to her pockets, and her eyes were staring off into the distance. They were a sad blue that a one point, looked as if they were a vibrant, beautiful blue, but were clouded with pain. Her hair was light wavy brown and it was actually really pretty as it fell perfectly to her mid back. She look like she was depressed and a painful expression was painted on her face.

I sat there and stared at her, wondering why on earth she looked so depressed. I started to feel really bad and felt even worse when I heard Izzy laughing in the background. I turned back and looked at her, trying to gain the courage to tell her to stop, but peer pressure of losing her as a friend silenced me.While I faced her she mouthed, you got the freak. I didn’t know how to respond, I didn’t want to think that, it was mean and cruel, but I didn’t want Izzy to think I didn’t agree. So I made a somewhat disgusted face and shrugged, I could hear her laughing as I turned around. I felt horrible; it was horrid for me to even think that this girl I don’t even know was a freak. I placed my hands on my forehead and yelled at myself in y head, why I would say something like that. Utterly ashamed, I looked down at her, and saw that she still sat lifeless in the chair, she hadn’t even moved an inch. I felt even more ashamed, and just hoped that she hadn’t heard me. I shook it away and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, but my thoughts were all jumbled around.

Trying to block it out, I realized that I wasn't that kind of person and slowly turned, until I completely faced the girl. With my mind speaking a mile a minute I raised my hand a little and waved it shyly back and forth.

“Hi, I’m Kate”

I thought as if my voice was a whisper, but i just sat there staring at her waiting for a response, but she never did. She didn’t even flinch, she remained motionless in the exact same position in which I found her when I sat down, I guess she just couldn’t hear me because she never responded to me. I thought about if I should even disturb her or not, if maybe I should tap her shoulder and get her attention. But before I could the bell rang again and the sound of rushing students snapped me out of my thinking.I looked over, but the girl sitting next to me was gone. upset I couldn’t even learn her name, I let out a sigh of frustration. Izzy came up to me laughing and punched my arm, which of course forced me to paint a fake smile on my face.

“Wow, and I thought I was going to get stuck with the freak. But it looks like you’ve got it. Hey come on lets go the parking lots going to get packed.”

She laughed hysterically and I smiled weakly, because I didn’t feel right. My stomach kind of twisted and I felt really guilty. I tried to push it away like I always do, but since the moment I saw the pain in the eyes of the girl next to me, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I slowly got up and followed Izzy out the door, my mind buzzing around me. From the moment I first saw that girl sitting next to me, I doubt I realized just how important that girl was, but I would soon find out.

I couldn’t really hear the words coming out of Izzy’s mouth, in fact I couldn’t really hear anything. To me it seemed as if the world just stopped and went in slow motion. My vision kind of blurred a little and my head started to get dizzy. I’d never felt this guilty before, Because Izzy never talked like that to me before. I was aware she talked like that to her other friends, since she is a cheerleader and they love to gossip, but i’d never seen her quite like this. It kind of made me wonder how much I really even knew about Izzy, I mean we’ve been friends forever, but were we really this close?

Izzy unlocked her bright blue convertible and I got in, shoving my stuff behind me into the back seat. She eventually got in and started the car, but before taking off she looked at me.

“Hey, want to go to the mall today? Their having a sale.” She said excitedly.

“Sorry Izzy, not today. I’m not feeling too hot.”Her facial expression saddened and she sighed. I shrugged and said sorry.

“Hey its fine we can do it another time” she said somewhat irritated. She looked forward and didn’t speak the rest of the way home.

The drive home felt like it took forever and I just couldn’t wait to get out of the car and be alone. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe, or like i’ve gotten away with murder. I just felt this overwhelming amount of guilt weighing down on my shoulders, and I didn’t know what to do. I was stuck between what I wanted izzy to be, and what she really was, and I think I was slowly starting to find out who she really was. The thought of that made things even worse, I just couldn’t wait any longer to go home.

When we finally reached my house I thanked Izzy for the ride, since my car was in the shop, and walked quickly up to my front door. I watched as she pulled out, and I struggled with putting the key into the lock. when it finally went in and slammed the door open and rushed up the stairs. turning down my hallway I pushed open my door and jumped onto my bed. I laid down on my back and stared at the ceiling. I had so many thoughts erupting through my brain, I felt like it was going to explode. I didn’t know what to do about Izzy, I mean I felt like if I told her goodbye because of the way she treats others, she’d pick on me like everyone else. Like I’d become the victim, and she’d target me. I mean, I almost felt as if I was pressured to be her friend and if I didn’t she’d bully me too.

After waking up suddenly two minutes before my alarm went off, I slowly rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes. I hadn’t received any sleep, due to the overwhelming amount of guilt bottled up inside me. I pressed the snooze on the alarm, and turned on the light to see. Shielding my eyes from the brightness of the light, I covered my eyes and walked into the bathroom to put in my contacts. Even half asleep, I still couldn’t stop thinking of Izzy and the girl who sat next to me, what should I do today? Do I talk to her and ignore what Izzy says, or should I shun her like everyone else does just to fit in? These questions haunted me all night long and made me stay awake, trying to find away to answer them. I layed on my back, staring at the ceiling waiting for an answer to fall from the sky, but a the only thing I could see, was the answer that I didn’t want too.

The morning went by so fast, before I knew it, I was walking out the door to my freshly oiled car in the driveway, and driving to school. I wish this morning would go just a little bit slower, I wasn’t quite ready to go to school, I still wasn’t sure how to deal with my situation. I feel like I should do the right thing and confront Izzy, but if I do my social status will go from cool to complete loser. Izzy knows everything about me, every secret, every embarrassing moment I ever had, and if I stood up for the people she’s hurting, she’d completely ruin my life with one secret at a time. I guess I let fear consume my thought, i was soon constantly thinking of everything I ever told Izzy, That she could use against me and there was a lot. Inside my heart though, way in the back, I felt as if maybe she wasn’t that cruel, that maybe she wouldn’t stoop that low. But I knew by the way she easily made fun of her classmates, that she would, and that’s what scares me. Then, theres’ a part of me that wants to defend her. A part of me that wants to believe that she’s the girl I first met, not the senseless, cruel person she is now. I mean, I guess if you think about it, she really didn’t hurt anybody from what I saw. She just talked about them behind their back, it’s not like they were directly at their face right? is that really bullying? i already knew the answer but tried my best to push the thoughts out of my head, I told myself it wasn’t bullying as i drove to school, hoping that maybe it would help, that I’d be okay, that maybe the guilt would go away. It didn’t, the guilt just grew worse because I already knew the right answer, but chose to ignore it.

Through the class periods each hour, I felt as if my anxiety level was rising as seventh hour creeped upon me. It was as if a giant countdown clock was counting down to the seconds to when I’d approach the doorway to Mrs. Hitchen’s Biology class. When the final bell rang for the five minute break before seventh hour, I was to a point to where I was going to explode. Fear raises inside of me and my palms are sweaty. I’m really not sure why I’m so nervous, maybe I just overwhelmed myself this morning by thinking of the worst possible outcomes of sticking up for Izzy’s victim’s. Whatever it was, it was growing worse as the time ticked away. 1:26. My heart pounded and I avoiding going into the classroom yet. I was afraid of running into Izzy, or being caught by her while I talked to my partner. I stood by my locker and tried my best to think of a strategy of how to approach my situation. 1:27. My palms were sweating more now, and I was truly afraid. I wondered if this is what the people Izzy taunts and teases feel like when they see her in the hall, or in class. If it was, I was horrified that one person could cause so much fear in someone else.1:28. I tried my best to hide the fear, disappointment, and anger I had for Izzy and began to slowly pace myself from my locker to Mrs. Hitchen’s classroom. I shuffled my feet, and tried to take as long as possible. 1:29. I looked up at the clock, heart beating a mile a minute and calmed down. I painted on a smile, straightened out my back and turned left into Mrs.Hitchen’s hallway. Walking down, I let out two deep breaths, and my heart pace returned to normal. Walking through the doorway, I began my acting skills and tried my best to seem normal.

The bell rang after I walked through the doorway and Izzy shrugged her shoulders and made a confused face. She mouthed the words, where were you?I waved my hand to say nothing and mouthed back, nothing, I’ll tell you later. I ignored her then, and approached my lab table. The same girl was sitting the exact same way as she was yesterday. It was as if she never moved from the seat, because she was positioned the exact way. I took a seat next to her but she didn’t move. She looked depressed and I could almost see a single tear forming in the corner of her right eye. It was like a piercing pain in my heart. In my mind, I was arguing with myself whether to talk with her, or to ignore her like everyone else. So basicly to stand alone, or to stand together? As I was fighting with myself, the teacher interrupted me, and began talking to the class . i pushed my thoughts aside and tried to listen,

“Okay class, today I’m introducing the first project of the year. Today you’ll begin the four week science project with your partners. As you complete the scientific method, you are your partner will conduct an experiment to prove a theory. It must be…”

The teachers words were caught off by my thoughts. The only thing I could focus on was the fact that we're doing this with our partners. this was my way around Izzy. This is how I was going to get to know my science partner, without worrying about what Izzy thought. Suddenly I felt like I was worried for nothing. I tried to conceal my excitement, I wanted to get to know this girl and figure her out. Know why she is so depressed and if it has anything to do with Izzy, or if I could help. i suddenly felt as if this giant weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I would nothing have to feel guilty. I would get to know this girl beyond her walls, and why she built them up so high. I tried to focus on the teacher but I could hear Izzy whispering my name behind me. I chose to ignore her.

When Mrs. Hitchen’s finished giving a brief instruction, the class burst out talking to their partners on what they’d do their project on. This was my chance, to talk with this girl as the teacher passed around papers. i turned toward her, her eyes still off into the distance staring and tapped her on the shoulder. It took her a second, but she slowly got up and looked at me like I was yelling at her. Despite the fact that she was making a insulting face, I waved at her to get her attention. She sat up, propping her elbow on the desk and took out her earbuds. Her eyes looked dead, and she looked like a mix of fear, hate and confusion.

“Hi, I’m your science partner Kate, whats your name?”

She looked almost shocked, as if I said something wrong. Then, she spoke for the first time since I sat next to her. It was almost a whisper, soft and quiet.

“Taylor, my names Taylor”

She spoke in a way where she sounded afraid, like I was going to yell at her for speaking. I tried not to overthink anything, so I just pushed those thoughts away and focused on the present.

“So Taylor, any idea on what we should do our project on?”

Her face scrunched up and she looked a little lost.

“What project, sorry I wasn’t really listening.” She made and embrassed face and started to look down in her lap.

“Hey, it’s okay, here”

Mrs. Hitchen’s had just passed out the rubric for the project, and I handed one to Taylor. She read through it quite quickly and her facial expression changed, from fearful to a thoughtful, thinking process. I watched as she scan through the paper and then placed it atop the lab table. She turned and look at me, avoiding eye contact but still spoke.

“Maybe we could do it on something different. Something out of the ordinary”

I sat back and started to organize the thought process in my head. Out of the ordinary was a brilliant idea, maybe even a winning science fair project. The corners of my mouth moved up, forming a smile and I turned toward Taylor.

“ Oh My Gosh Taylor, thats a really good idea!” Her face almost formed a smile and she kind of laughed a little.

“Thanks” She smiled and I almost felt like something inside of me sparked. Like the feeling you get when you help someone and don’t get anything in return.

“So I’m trying to think about some ideas, do you have any?”

Her face moved sideways a little, and her face form a thoughtful appearance.

“Well, I don’t really know an exact project, but what if We did it on the topic of bullying?”

Her face twisted at the word bullying, and I could tell the word made her skin cringe. Yet she seemed somewhat excited and afraid at the same time. I couldn’t tell if this was maybe a cry for help that she's hiding in the project, or is she just trying to focus on an interesting topic. I shook it away and tried to focus on a hypothesis, and an experiment that could represent bullying. My thoughts jumbled around and were interrupted by the loud echoing of the bell, dismissing us to go home. The smile faded from Taylor’s face as I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I knew it was Izzy before I turned around. I saw her eyes narrow toward Taylor as I slowly turned my body, facing her. She painted a fake smile when she caught my glance, and cocked her head a little to the right.

“Hey Kate, ready to go?”

“Um go where?” I questioned as I packed up my stuff.

“To the mall silly, todays the big sale. Come on I’ll drive you.”

“Sorry Izzy, not today, I’ve got a lot of homework from various different classes, and my head is pounding.” I forced a smile, trying to hide the fact that I wanted her to leave. She gave me a somewhat irritated glare and sighed.

“That’s two days in a row you’ve shot me down, are you avoiding me?”

“No, no Izzy, I’ve just haven’t felt good in the last couple days, that’s all, I swear.”

She glared, then laughed and walked toward the door, “okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I waved by and let a sigh of relief out as she walked through the door. I quickly turned toward Taylor, in hopes that maybe she’d still be there. As I turned to the right, I was relieved to see Taylor sitting quietly with her head down. I could see the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she hide in the srm sleeves of her jacket. I bent over and taped her upon her shoulder, then sat back down in my seat. By then everyone had left, including the teacher who had gone to a meeting.

Taylor slowly looked up, the light I’d seen in her eyes had disappeared and she look defeated. I made direct eye contact with her and asked her, “Hey, are you alright?”

She lifted her right hand and wiped her sleeve across her cheek, wiping away the tear that had began to form. She sniffled, then sighed and painted a smile across her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She began to get up, and when she stood up, I acted quickly.

“Hey, do you want to come over for the afternoon and work on the project? We can hang out and try to find an experiment for our topic?”

Taylor’s face looked bright, her facial expression changed from sad to almost shocked.

“Really? Your…you’re asking me to co… come over?”

“Yeah, if thats okay with you. I mean if you don’t want to it’s up to you.”

She smiled and laughed a little, making me smile with her.

“No,no I would love too.”

“Awesome, than let’s go.”

I smiled and for the second I looked at Taylor before we headed out, I could see the light begin to form into her eyes.

Chapter 2

I drove my blue, four door focus down the main road off the campus of my school. I’d finally got it back from the shop, and the engine roared loudly just as it used to. The music was turned up to about seven and the sound of a peaceful melody flowed out of the speakers. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Taylor sticking her face into the wind, blowing her thick caramel hair behind her. She closed her eyes and inhaled the autumn air, breathing deeply to enjoy the wind. I could feel my face turning into a grin, for some reason I felt like we’ve know each other a while. Like she was a sister, that’s how close I felt and I couldn’t quite figure out why.

I just kept driving and placed my right blinker on as I slowed down to the entrance of my neighborhood. Big brick walls stood on each side of the large iron gates. I halted to a stop and pressed the button placed on my visor. Looking over to check on Taylor, her eyes were wide as she stared at the large opening gates in awe. I assumed by her facial expressions that she didn’t live in the same social class as me. She must have had a smaller home in a smaller neighborhood, based on the excitement and amazement in her eyes. I held in a slight laugh of pure astonishment, and couldn’t find myself to look away from her. I really couldn’t explain it even if I had all the time in the world, yet I continued to feel like there were different sides to Taylor,that not a lot of people get the chance to see. I shook my head and looked at the open gates before me. I pressed the gas slowly and we began entering my neighborhood, trying not to get distracted by the pure excitement on Taylor’s face. We probably drove through the winding roads surrounded by houses for at least five to seven minutes. I started to slow down as we approached my house. It was a two story house, with a mixture of brick and siding. As I pulled into my driveway, I could hear my dog barking and she stood against the window, her tail wagging wildly.

I turned the car off and unbuckled my seatbelt, Taylor mirrored me, removing her’s as well. As we walked up the brick pathway leading to the door, I could see Taylor looking at the height of my house. Her gazed followed from the bottom of the house, to the roof. I shook my head and approached the door, listening to the scratching of nails against the door.I juggled the key into the door and walked in, Taylor following close behind me. My great dane Mouse placed his mighty paws onto my shoulders and licked my face. He stood a little above my head and excitedly gave me kisses. When I placed him down, he went for Taylor, her face grew into a slight smile as Mouse jumped on two feet and knocked her to the ground, attacking her with kisses. For the first time, I heard Taylor laugh, she giggled as Mouse overpowered her with excitement. I sighed and rushed over to calm Mouse down.

“Mouse, down boy, calm down.” I tried to pull his collar and remove him from her, but he resisted and remained.

“That’s alright, I love dogs.”

I extended my arm and held it out for her, trying to help her up. She sat almost still when arm went out, and her face was almost a slight afraid mixed with hope. She grabbed my open invitation and I pulled her to her feet. I smiled and she smiled back.

Mouse, already done his greeting, went to the living room and layed in his bed, returning to sleep.

“So, you want anything to eat or drink. I’ve got plenty of stuff.”

“ Um I think I’m good right now, but thank you for the offer.”

“Okay, well if you do let me know. Come on we can start working in my room.”

She followed me upstairs, our backpacks and feet making the loudest noise each step we took. As we reached the top, I walked down the long hallway, the walls were covered with picture of our family and my door was the last one at the end. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Taylor carefully looking at each photo we passed. She studied them and it looked as if she was sad after looking at them. I don’t know what made me think this, but I felt, just for a second, like I was her and could feel the pain she was feeling. I don’t know how to explain it, and I didn’t know if I would ever know, but for now I just pushed it away for another day.

When we reached my door, I pushed it open and the bright sun poured through the window and filled my room with light. I walked in, setting my backpack down and started to pick things up and move things in order to make a space where we could sit and work. As I was clearing out a space, I noticed Taylor walking around observing my room. I didn’t what to say or even what to think, I just remained silent for the moment and continued cleaning. After a large area was cleared, I placed my backpack down and smiled warmly at Taylor.

“You ready to get started?”

She turned her head toward me, And a slight smile formed across her face.

“Yeah that sounds good.

She joined my, placing her backpack next to mine, then sitting down right across from me. I pulled out a notebook and a pencil from my backpack and wrote down our topic. Bullying.

“Okay Taylor, I’ll go ahead and take notes on any ideas or thoughts we have.”

“Okay cool, I’ve been thinking about this project a lot on the way here. But I’m still stuck on what kind of a project we could do on it in order to connect with the topic of bullying.”

“Yeah, thats whats getting me too. I think this is a really awesome topic, but how would we conduct an experiment to conclude a theory?”

“Well, when people get bullied, adults tell them to stick up for themselves, but I’ve been there, in fact I’m still there yet it doesn’t seem to be working out very well.”

I stopped thinking about the project, my world just froze and my heart rate started to rise. taylor is being bullied? The puzzle pieces started to fit, thats most likely why she is so depressed and has a never ending fear. I didn’t think about what to say, it just came out consoling, sincere and real.

“Oh my gosh Taylor, you’re getting bullied? hey thats not okay, if you ever need anything, help or support, I’ll be right here by your side.”

Her face just collapsed and she broke down into a puddle of tears. Covering her face with the sleeves of her jacket she curled into a ball and pulled her knees toward her chest. I sat motionless, unaware of what to do or think. Did I say something wrong, or did I assume something? Taylor is sitting in front of me crying and I’m unsure of what to do. Yet some how something inside of me sparks and before I even realize it, I’m by her side with my hand on her shoulder.

“Taylor, hey it’s okay, don’t cry, I’m right here for you”

She looked up from her sleeves, revealing her smudged mascara marks running down her cheeks. Her eyes were running with water and she looked at me with pleading eyes and she smiled slightly.

“Kate, tell me something, why would you care, I don’t mean that meanly, I’m just curious why you care so much, I mean we literally just met yet your the longest and kindest friend I’ve ever had and no ones ever cared this much?”

I sat stunned, there was my answer, she’s been bullied over and over again and no one even batted an eye. In her eye’s, no one cared enough about her to even help her. I was stunned, my body froze as I sat there staring at her pleading eyes. My heart pounded, I wasn’t sure what to do or say, I didn’t even know the answer, why did I care so much? Yet somehow again, I said something that I didn’t even realize I could say.

“Well, if you want the truth, I saw someone in need of a friend, someone who looked as if she was about to break and although it wasn’t my business I wasn’t about to let her fall. Someone who held back so much anger, pain and regret that the beauty she held was hidden in her fears. I know that might sound practiced but it’s not, it something that i’ve noticed in the valued amount of time I’ve got to see the light come back into your eyes. The moment when a smiled formed across your face and when your eye’s closed when you laughed, that’s why I care. Friends are suppose to care for one another and i wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I felt myself starting to cry as Taylor started to smile, her tears streaming down turned into joy, happiness and hope. She shook her head and smiled, then wiped the tears from her face.

“Thank you, for being there when nobody else would. Alhtough I’ll never find the words to describe what you just did you did to me, I just want you to know that it was life changing.”

I formed a warm smile and leaned forward, wrapping my arms around my new friend. I comforted her, allowing her to know that I meant every word I said.

After about five to ten minutes to recover from the emotional event that just occurred, we regained our focus and turned our attention back to the assignment. Taylor smiled as we sat down on the carpeted floor, the light formed into her bright blue eye’s and I’d never seen them that bright. I picked up my notebook and reviewed what we’d had before we stopped. I tapped the eraser of the pencil against my lip and started to think. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Taylor thinking as well, with her hand stuck in her sleeve and propped against her chin. I couldn’t get my mind off the idea of Taylor getting bullied so bad that she was spun into this unending swirl of hate. I satred to think about what she said to protect her self and how that affected the bully. That’s when it hit me, it must have been there the whole time, right in front of my face. I sat up quickly with my back staright and my smile that was a mile long. Taylor stopped thinking and look at me with confusion.

“What?”

“I’ve got it, the experiment for the project!”

“Shut up, what? Tell me.”

“We test the theory of what we say to the bully in order to get him/her to stop!”

Taylor formed a smile as wide as mine and we started to laugh. We began writing ideas like crazy for the rest of the afternoon. This project would be the key to ending bullying, one response at a time.

Chapter 3

I woke up to Mouse licking my face, his slobber dripping onto my bed. I tried to open my eyes but I was overcome by exhaustion. I pushed Mouse away and forced myself to get up and I stretched out my stiff limbs. I had stayed up late last night texting Taylor about the project. She left around seven thirty and went home to eat dinner, from there we stayed up till about midnight discussing what to do next.Throughout the entire time we texted, we determined that this was a well thought out topic, and that we would have to research some other idea’s for an experiment, due to the questions and concerns referring to our topic.

I laughed as I thought back to earlier that night, after sharing our emotions on my bedroom floor about Taylor’s bullying, I could just picture the smile on her face when I told her I’d be there for her. Thats what suddenly woke me up and put me in a positive mood.

Putting the last of the information for the project into my backpack, I headed downstairs, out the door and began