She was just a little girl.A daughter,a sister,a best friend.Herself.Sweetest person you could ever met.A bully victim.
She was different.Never changed for anyone.Loved the color pink,a little obsessed with lady bugs,never conformed for anyone else.
Only seven years old and people already thought of her as weird.Only second grade and this kid caused the entire class to taunt her.She became the object of name calling and avoiding.Even I,her so called best friend,was diluted into following "the order of things",was easily controlled into bullying one of my truest friends.I didn't name call or taunt,I just avoided her.Still very wrong,still extremely hurtful.
A few days later,flashes of pavement,glass,and a now incomplete family.She never once missed a single day of school.Nine years later,and I still feel guilty for her death.Silly right?I wasn't the one driving the car.I was at home,probably asleep.But still.What if I stayed with her through it all?What if I never left her side and avoided her like the rest?Would she still be here?
I may not have realized this right away,but I did realize it growing up.Her passing had the biggest impact on my life.After that day I stopped following everyone else.I became myself.I showed everyone the true me and didn't think twice,not even once,about what anyone else thought.I became bullied.Even then i didn't let it effect me.I wont let them effect me.If only I could have been the true me from the start.If only I could have known then what I know now.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her.She is my angel.
I love you Alicia,I would take on a thousand bullies just for you.