The Life of Eirḗnē

Chapter 10: Cardigan

Leia

"A friend to all is a friend to none."

Cardigan, Taylor Swift

Even when Alex and I had broken up earlier that Summer, we remained close in contact- being civil for the most part and decided to deal with each other through hidden, sugar-coated insults. At this point, we had already graduated from grade six, and were approaching seventh grade, or as some may call it 'middle-school.'

We seemed like a dysfunctional family at best, but we had all tried getting along.

One September night, we were all chilling together, just chit-chatting about whatever the hell twelve-year-olds talk about. Sometime around 9-10 pm, I sent a selfie of my mom and I in the group chat- raw, unfiltered, literally bare faces.

We're going to name one of Alex's friends 'Ron' because he looks like half a moron anyway. The boy had said something so unforgivable, that even if it had already been half a decade later, it's engraved in my head:

Ron:

Your mom looks old.

Me:

Excuse me? What did you say?

I was in utter disbelief, but he still kept going. I was instantly on defensive mode.

Ron:

She looks like a 70 year old. Lol.

Me:

Listen to me. You don't say shit like that. Even if, God forbid, your mom looked old, I wouldn't say that to you or to anyone else.

Ron stood firmly by his point, he didn't want to admit he was in the wrong. He went on, basically stating that he's "just being honest," and it shouldn't be "considered a big deal."

With no shame, I argued back. I had given no fucks if people in the group chat thought of me as more or less anymore at this point.

Tough love was what my parents had taught me growing up. Tough love was what I had to adapt to in order to survive.

Even before I was a teenager, I maintained a strong personality and attitude because it was what got me going. Remember that this doesn't always apply, but because of that time I spent alone, I learned that people are intimidated by individuals they can't manipulate. The wrong people who so badly wanted in, in my inner circle, took advantage of my weaknesses and fears.

I was not going to stand down if random people attacked the people I love. And for what? Nonsensical satisfaction? Ron talks about how I'm all this and that, but has the sporadic urge to look down on people whom he thinks are below his level.

He was my friend, and my classmate of many years- I even considered him like a brother, but that behavior is unacceptable. I was not going to let this pass.