Friends

I grew up having to have unnatural relationships. As usual, this was the call of the IEP, the known god of school Hell. For some reason they couldn't explain, I hung out with myself most of the time. I still had pride then, and I didn't want to reveal the truth: nobody likes me. I wanted to keep the truth a secret so that I wouldn't have to go to therapy or any other form of brainwashing.

I spent a summer with kids who'd been severely abused. The school had placed me in self-esteem camp (again, a wonder). For the record, I don't have low self-esteem anymore, and I consider it a massive character flaw to have low self-esteem, as it's usually manipulative and wimpy.

I have a realistic world vantage.

Anyway, they sent me to this camp where the kids were in there due to SEVERE abuse. One kid had seen his father kill his mother and then went to school. Despite this, he was a happy child, social and got along with most people. In the corner, the girls sat and braided each other's hair. They had been molested.

In the camp, they mostly left me alone. I had to sleep on a mattress with a giant stain on it while they tormented the counselors who had admitted to drug abuse.

I had to share my "problems," and I was humbled by theirs. I was like, "My parents are too busy for me," which was true. I told them a wee bit about school and how people trapped me in their nets of bullshit. This is where I should have stood up for myself again. The reason I didn't was because I enjoy being alone to some extent.