It first started in January 2022. I would have done anything to be liked even if it meant getting in trouble. I was addicted to the feeling of adrenaline I got when breaking the rules and getting in trouble and the feeling of acceptance from the people I was with or who found out about it. Having this mindset changed me and how I acted around my friends. I wanted my friends to think I was cool and soon learned to face the consequences of my actions. 

One night one of my friends threw a birthday sleepover for me since it was almost my birthday. They planned on doing things such as sneaking out and meeting with people who weren’t allowed at the sleepover as well as some other bad choices that 12 and 13-year-olds shouldn’t be doing. The next morning we made some other bad choices that we could have gotten into big trouble for. Including the night activities and some activities that happened in the morning, I made a lot of choices I would really live to regret. 

I didn't realize how big of an impact this would have on me. Even though some of the activities we planned on doing weren’t the worst things we could have done, they changed the way people saw me and damaged my reputation. I soon came to find out that one of my friends had told people about our “Forbidden sleepover”, and some pictures were shared. If I'm being honest, at the time, I wasn't mad about it.  I was actually more proud than embarrassed about the stuff we did because I thought people were going to think I was cool, but I was extremely mistaken. 

From one of those choices I made during that sleepover, people concluded I was a certain type of person, and I suddenly had a negative reputation.  As I thought about this more I figured out that changing what people think of me after they already have a bad image is difficult. By then my friend group had split up and it was mostly just me and my other friend. She remained one of my only friends for the rest of that year. I came to the realization that my mistakes come with consequences and it was my bad decisions that made people think of me this way. Since then, I've made new friends and realized that even one thing can change the way people see you and sometimes you can't take it back.