Riiiing! The middle school bell chimed once, bading the students to get moving to class. Hefting her backpack straps, Katrina took a deep breath. Ok, the first month of middle school is almost over. I got this. Today is gonna be awesome！ She adjusted the collar of her shirt and put on her most dazzling smile. Just before she left, Katrina took one last peek at herself in her locker mirror. A tall, confident girl with sparkling eyes of hazel smiled back at her. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, Katrina stepped into her first period math class.

            First period went very smoothly. Katrina had taken the course over the summer, so it was as easy as solving 2+2. She whisked through algebraic expressions, equations, and variables as easily as a professional figure skater soars across the skating rink. As the bell rang, Katrina packed her books with a smile and hurried off to second period. So far, so good. Just hope I don’t run into Shannon again.

            Shannon was a very popular eighth grader. The second Katrina had stepped into Lincoln Middle School, she had caught Shannon’s attention. Katrina was an intelligent, likable person, and by the end of the week she already had a huge group of friends. One of Katrina’s closest friends was named Brooks. Brooks used to be Shannon’s best friend. However, ever since Katrina came to Lincoln, Brooks slowly stopped hanging out with Shannon and started hanging out with Katrina. Shannon was furious and hurt, and she mistakenly blamed Katrina for stealing her best friend. To get back at Katrina, she threw a party at her house, inviting everyone except for Katrina. At the party, Shannon spread disgusting rumors about Katrina and told all the middle schoolers to ignore her. Of course, the next day at school Katrina was totally surprised to see that everyone was acting like she was invisible. To make things worse, Shannon and her entourage constantly tormented Katrina for fun.

            About a week after Shannon’s party, Katrina was on her way to Tech Ed when she was confronted by Shannon. Her entourage followed behind her, giggling and whispering to each other. Katrina was staring intently down at the tiles on the floor, wishing she could just melt into the floor. The girls surrounded Katrina, like predators closing in on a weakened prey. Shannon flipped her shoulder-length blonde hair and glared daggers at Katrina. She had eyes that were like jagged pieces of blue-green ice. They flashed disapprovingly as she took in Katrina’s hand-me-down jacket and her Hello Kitty backpack. Shannon let out a snicker before speaking. “Do you seriously still like Hello Kitty? Hello Kitty is like, for seven year olds. You’re like, what, 12 already? As she turned to face her entourage, Shannon continued: “Hey, look girls, we found a teeny tiny wittle baby! Anyone wanna send her back to kindergarten?” Katrina had felt the heat in her cheeks rising and knew she was turning beet red. Don’t give them any satisfaction. I am not going to react. However, there was no way to have hidden the obvious flush in Katrina’s cheeks. Shannon’s entourage laughed and made comments like “Goo-goo ga-ga!” With a satisfied expression, Shannon turned and sashayed off into the crowd of middle schoolers, her entourage making baby noises as they left.

            Riiiiiiiiiing! Katrina was jolted out of past memories by the bell. Gathering her stuff, Katrina made her way to her second period science classroom. I shouldn’t really be bothered by Shannon’s teasing. I mean, it was a one time thing anyway! Locating her classroom, Katrina was about to go in when a hand barred her way. Turning, Katrina saw the one person whom she most wanted to avoid. Oh gosh, it’s Shannon.

            “Cute hair, honey. Did, like, a badger come along and make a nest in it?” Shannon teased. “Omg, it’s like the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!” Opening her mouth, Katrina was about to tell Shannon to knock it off. However, those cold blue-green eyes made her tongue freeze in her mouth. “What’s the matter, r*tard?” Shannon said, glaring haughtily at Katrina. Shannon’s words stung Katrina’s heart like icicles piercing through the snow. She just stood there, petrified, as Shannon’s eyes bored into her, cruel amusement glinting in those frigid irises. “Aww, is the wittle baby gonna cry?” Shannon taunted. Turning, Katrina ran sniffling into the girl’s bathroom. Behind her, Shannon and her gaggle of girls snickered to each other, not in the least caring about Katrina’s feelings. 

            Katrina fled down to the last stall. With her back to the wall, she slid down to the floor, burying her face in her arms. She managed to get inside and lock the door before the waterworks came. Tears flowed silently down Katrina’s cheeks, with ever increasing volume and intensity.

            Katrina was looking forward to starting middle school so much. She had fantasized about making new friends, getting to know her teachers, and picking electives.  She had been having so much fun at the start of the year. But now, Shannon had taken those dreams and crushed them like a toddler crushes an ant underfoot. My hairstyle is ugly, and my backpack is babyish. No one in their right mind would want to be friends with me.

            Katrina’s emotions weren’t just jumbled. They were thrown in a blender with gravel and ice.

            Suddenly the truth hit Katrina. This is exactly what Shannon wants. Shannon is trying to take away my confidence. She believes that by destroying my self-esteem, she could make herself feel better. And up until now, it had been working. Katrina was filled up to the brim with self-doubt, all because of what Shannon had said. But now, Katrina realized that what Shannon thought didn’t matter. As long as Katrina believed in herself, Shannon’s insults couldn’t hurt her. It’s about what I think of myself, not what others think of me.

            Drying her tears, Katrina picked up her backpack and trotted to her third period classroom with a new spring in her step.

            The second the bell rang, Katrina was out the door before many of the other students had even put their pencils away. She was fully prepared for Shannon this time. She was eager to confront Shannon once and for all.

            Once again, Shannon sashayed over to Katrina with a smug expression on her face, already sensing a victory. “Seriously, Katrina? You’re walking around in public wearing that? Ewww, it’s like the grossest thing ever! I could just see my grandma wearing that!” Just as Shannon opened her mouth to speak, Shannon’s words stung, but this time Katrina merely brushed her insults off like a pesky fly. She stood up tall, looked Shannon directly in the eye, and in a clear, ringing voice, said: “Stop it!” Shannon stood there, absolutely dumbfounded. Her confidence lifted, Katrina repeated “Knock it off! I couldn’t care less that you don’t like my backpack! I couldn’t care less that you don’t like my hairstyle! I couldn’t care less that you don’t like my clothes! All that matters to me is that I like it, and if I’m okay with it, then it’s no business of yours!” Katrina stood there glaring defiantly at Shannon, a feeling of ecstasy coursing through her veins. Shannon’s face rapidly changed colors, from white to red to mottled purple. “Oh yeah, one last thing, Shannon,” Katrina said, turning around. “Your grandma has very good taste in fashion. If I were you, I’d be begging her for fashion advice.” Just before Katrina turned to go, she was surprised to see that many of Shannon’s entourage were looking at her with admiration.

            Katrina strode away from Shannon with her head held high and her posture straight and tall. Katrina had almost reached her homeroom when she realized Shannon’s entourage had followed her.

           “What? What do you want?” Katrina asked carefully, surveying their faces. One of the girls stepped forward.

           “We just think that it was really brave of you to stand up to Shannon. No one’s ever done that before. You’re a really great person. We realized how rude we all were to you, and we’re sorry. I really hope we can be friends.”

           “Yeah, it was hurtful,” Katrina agreed, remembering how terrible she had felt. “But it’s alright. It wasn’t your fault. Of course we can be friends.”

           “Hey!” Shannon called to her entourage. “Aren’t you guys coming? Hurry up!”

           “No.” The girl spoke forcefully, stressing every syllable. “No, we don’t like how you act, and we’ve realized how wrong it was to bully Katrina. You haven’t, and that’s the problem.” Without another word, the girls all walked away from Shannon, leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway, her shoulders drooping and her head hanging, all popularity gone.

            From then on, Katrina never had to worry about Shannon again. She had lots of friends and was doing great in Lincoln Middle School. Things were finally looking up.