Member-only story
One Good Person
Some people save our lives without even knowing they’ve touched them.
Once when I found myself deep in the anxious muck of being the target of bullies, I had an experience that transformed me with a person I would have least expected to help me.
It happened in the late fall of 7th grade. I was being threatened and pursued every day by a group of girls whose stated goal was to beat me up. My friend Carla had also been targeted by the same group of girls for the same purported offense, but she had confronted them and fought in the halls between classes. The girl she tangled with emerged with a fistful of Carla’s hair.
I was appalled and deeply frightened. I was a shy kid, and very afraid of anything having to do with hurting or being hurt by another. The culture of physical fights between girls was alien and terrifying to me. I didn’t understand it and wanted no part of it, but as one of the targets, I was pulled into the game.
I had been dodging a confrontation by taking different streets home or leaving school earlier or later. One day, I felt my luck was running out, and I was filled with anxiety. I took refuge in an after-school math session, which I would never have attended otherwise. Miss Arnold was in the classroom and sat prepared to talk with students who came for help. I planned to…