Losing My New Friends

By Abby Martin

Abby Martin lives in Indiana, USA.

I liked hanging out with my new friends, but now I had a decision to make.

Illustration by Katie McDee

It was a typical Saturday afternoon. I was super excited because after doing my chores, I was going to hang out with some of my new friends from my cheerleading squad. Being a new seventh-grade cheerleader had helped me make tons of friends at my new school.

I bounced up the sidewalk to Macy’s* house as I watched my mom drive away. “Ah, sweet freedom,” I thought. “I love being a teenager. I can finally go to the mall and movies with my friends.”

Macy opened the door, and I could see that my friend Lisa was already there. We started curling each other’s hair, laughing, and dancing and singing to music as we got ready. Macy explained that there would be several kids from school meeting us at the movie—not just girls but boys too. Even the cute boy at school I just met. I started to feel a little uneasy. I kept listening as she told me what movie they wanted to see. I got chills and knew instantly it was the Holy Ghost letting me know it was not a good movie. I asked to see the trailer for it. As I watched, I knew it was a movie I definitely didn’t want to watch.

What was I going to do? What would they say? I started thinking of plan B.

I began texting my mom privately. “What should I do, Mom?” I asked. She quickly texted back and said she didn’t feel good about the movie but she would let me decide. I knew I shouldn’t watch it; there was no doubt about that. I made up my mind. I was going to tell them I wasn’t comfortable with watching this movie. Surely they would understand, right? They were my friends. We could do something else instead.

“What? You don’t want to see the movie?” Lisa asked.

“Is it because your mom doesn’t want you to? Tell her that you saw something else.”

“What, are you too good for us?”

“Don’t be such a loser.”

My heart broke as I listened to my friends. My worst nightmares were coming true. For a moment I thought to myself, maybe I should just go. It won’t be that big of a deal. Mom said I could …

No. I knew I shouldn’t.

“Come on, guys,” I said. “My mom said she would pick us up and we could go back to my house and eat pizza and do a movie there. Or we could go get our nails done and hang out at the mall.” They weren’t interested. They wanted to go see this movie with all of our friends from school.

I texted my mom and told her I needed her to come pick me up. I was devastated. How could this happen? I thought they were my friends. I thought they wanted to hang out with me. All I wished for right then was my good friend Sandy from my Beehive class. She was a true friend. I knew she would’ve understood my decision.

I’d been so excited for this day and now it was turning out to be the worst day ever. When I saw my mom pull up, I quickly grabbed my stuff and headed out. As I walked to the car I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I’d just made one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I knew it was the right one.

I felt good knowing I had followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I know that I am a much stronger girl because I chose not to go.

• Names have been changed.