I never knew what friendship felt like and what you benefit from it. I have always been the type of person who is not easily influenced. I believed that seeking friendship would encourage me to be less officious.

In eighth grade, I met this beautiful and intelligent girl. I started talking to her to get out of my comfort zone since I have always been solitary. The thought about the two of us becoming best friends delighted me as she made me feel uncomfortable in every way and it felt like I was using her to build my self esteem.

All along I knew our personalities would never match and I would never be comfortable around her. I wanted to accentuate my talents and open up to her but little did I know it is not what she wanted. I lost myself due to her judgements. Since then I realized she was a fake friend and I felt horrible for not defending myself. So I started distancing myself from her and allowed our bond to fade without a proper explanation. I felt guilty for leaving after I promised to stay by her side.

I did not expect to lose myself during the process. I hurt her feelings and it took me a while to recover after the experience. I have learned a valuable lesson. Choose your friends wisely and before getting to know someone else work on getting to know who you are first. There is nothing wrong with being different and when you feel like moving out of your comfort zone, be sure you are ready to. Do not do it to impress other people. Everything takes time just be patient. Make sure that whatever you are doing is not to impress.