"Someone asked me why I am so nice to people who treat me bad, and I didn't know the answer. Then
during class, I looked around after finishing my test and I realized why. I looked at the boy who
made fun of my inability to do math, and his head was on the desk and he looked tired. I know he played
in the band, so he had to be at school early, and I wondered if he had something at home keeping him up
or maybe it was the amount of classwork teachers assigned. I looked at the girl who returned my hellos
by snapping her gum and twisting her hair. I knew her and her boyfriend broke up, and I wondered
how hard it must be to have everyone concerned about your buisness. He could probably be a jerk, and
I knew that she only acted dumb in class so people would like her. And I thought about the boy in PE who
picked me last for teams, how he squinted at his paper and furrowed his eyebrows. It must be a lot of
work always practicing, and then also having to get good grades and go to college. And then there was
also the girl who everyone thought was really mean to everyone, but little did she know I saw the scars
on her wrist, and then there is the girl who is always reading, and I wonder what she gets from those
books or if she is running from something. And there is the boy who always wears that shirt and I know
his shoes have holes in them because when it rains he complains about wet socks, and I wonder if his
parents work hard for him or if they drink a lot and I wonder if he feels outcasted because he has so little.
And the pther boy who just moved here from Mexico, and he doesn't speak a lot of English, and I can only
imagine learning this stuff in a new language. And even the teacher, I noticed he wasn't wearing his
wedding ring today. Maybe he is giving us more work and more homework because he wants us to do
better than he did. The point is, I look at all these people and realize that they have their own troubles and
their own demons, and the last thing I want to do is add to them. It's a lot of pressure growing up, and no
matter what anyone says, none of us have it easy."