“Did your mom ask Tonya’s mom to pay to be friends with you?” a boy had asked.
Tonya loved the way she looked. Her long, dark black hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her bright smile always lit up a room. People at school consistently told her how pretty, beautiful, and amazing she was, and she enjoyed the attention. Everything seemed perfect until her best friend transferred to the same school.
At first, it was really exciting. Rather than having people come and go, having your best friend at your school could be the best thing ever to happen. They would hang out every day like they always did and drive out somewhere to have fun. But Tonya realized her best friend didn’t fit in with the group the way Tonya did. People at school would treat her very differently and started to ask her questions like:
“Did your mom ask Tonya’s mom to pay to be friends with you?” a boy had asked.
“How could someone like Tonya be friends with someone like you?” a girl had asked.
Then more people started to talk. They told Tonya that she shouldn’t be hanging out with her “best friend” anymore.
“She’s dragging you down! Can’t you see that? Either drop her or we drop you,” they all said.
The whispers spread, and soon enough, Tonya found herself questioning the people around her about whether they really liked her or what she could give to them as a popular person.
Tonya was done with all the comments and threats and then realized that being someone’s friend and them being a true friend was more important than popularity, so she left the group chats and left the toxic friend groups, wearing her own unique style. Now she finally felt comfortable without the pressure of going to places and doing things with the popular kids. She finally felt a normal kid.
