When I was 15 years-old going 16, I liked a boy. For me he was the dreamed bad boy. My neighbour, the boy next door. And for an entire year I was totally infatuated with him. I barely knew him and still I felt close to him, today I have no idea why, I mean I do but I think I was “blind”. Sure, for my young self he was incredible, everything I dreamed in a guy. Foolish me!

I had this friend, she lived close by, on the next block and we started hanging out. Almost every night I’ll be at her house, contemplating our surroundings; oh! But we had a special place from her house where we could sit and watch His house, if he was there, talk about him. Around that time, another guy stepped into my life, he was older than me for 2 years or so, he lived a few blocks from us, he went to my school and we kind of clicked, still, I was young and still terribly in love with my neighbour but I let this other guy, who was actually paying attention to me, woo me so to speak. We will meet at my friend’s house.

My problem started, when the one I wanted paid some kind of attention to me. You can imagine, how trill I was, like any other adolescent girl. The new kid, the cool one, the bad boy, liked me. It was stupid, I repeat, I was so young and for me everything was painted in a cute shade of pink. The thing is this other boy was really in to me and we were seen together, of course, still didn’t mean I stopped my young innocent heart to go on wondering how it would be like to be with the cute boy next door, why would I? Why did I have to give him up, right? I was young, I was carefree, and I got dumped from that cloud I had posted myself in.

My dearest friend suddenly starting talking to my neighbour, I introduced them actually, you know how you want your friends meeting the boy you like, in any case, I didn’t give it much thought, did that actually sound sincere? It wasn’t. Of course I minded, why was she talking to him without me present? However, I didn’t say a thing, why bother? I was positive he liked me and besides she liked one of his friends, a kid who lived a street over, yes back then there were a couple of adolescents around; back to the point, they talked, I continued on with my life as if nothing was amiss. I should have known the word isn’t painted pink.

Sufficed to say, he suddenly started to treat me... let us say bad for lack of another word, I wonder why. Why would he act like that? What did I do? Did he like someone else? I hadn’t the foggiest. On they continued talking another night, I simmered, what had she done? I still have no idea what she did, but I can guess for what my dark-haired crush say to me. One day, I was so tired of him giving me the silent treatment and the iced one as well, I snapped and asked him, what was his deal, he didn’t even had the decency to talk to my face, he just mumbled something about “Bi**es”, yes he used the B word on me.

You can imagine how that affected me. I simply stopped talking to him. If he wanted to act like an idiot, I would let him. And her?  My lovely friend? I didn’t speak a word to her again. It has been almost 10 years since those days. I still don’t like her, since I know she’s a backstabber and without no good reason; that’s how my eyes were open, I learned to not trust everyone, that everything wasn’t donned in a hue of pink, that other colours existed. She trash talked about me, my own friend, have you ever experienced something like that? It changed me, it really did. I was young and in love, I treasured my friends, after that, I was careful with what I said around who I said it. Some might I have trust issues now, I actually don’t. I have few close friends, girlfriends but the ones I have had lasted for several years, and all of them are awesome gals.

That summer changed me, I say for good. It taught me to not let my guard down, to discern true friends from foe ones. And ultimately I learned to value friendship, those which are real and you can actually feel it in your heart.