Teen years. They say those are the best years of your life. Whoever said that deserves to be punched in the face, because I’m almost 14, and it already sucks. Last year, I suffered from major depression problems due to not feeling good enough to meet other people’s satisfaction physically, academically, and mentally. I didn’t have very many friends because I was labeled as “annoying”, “ugly”, “geeky”, and a little too sassy. I go to a special charter school with kids from multiple towns instead of the typical middle school, so I had some friends from my town, but not very many from this big multi-town school. I didn’t exactly like the popular people at all; the girls were backstabbers and the guys were so annoying. Although there was a few exceptions in the popular crowd, most of them stabbed you in the back at any given moment. Fake friends, which I recycled many times. I personally wouldn’t label myself as a geek, I’m not into Pokemon and books very much, but I wouldn’t label myself as the super skinny, super pretty popular chick with five guys in tow. I’m currently in-between, I like to sometimes read, I get good grades, I’m reasonably skinny and I have a few guy friends. But that was nothing compared to my 7th grade year. I had one best friend (let’s call her Pippa for the sake of this article) and my theatre family, who ranged in grades 6-12. Pippa knew how to tolerate someone as depressed and annoying as me, even when she had her own problems. Pippa had a suicidal friend, an abusive mother (although mine was a bit abusive as well), divorced parents, was being bullied by someone who was supposed to be “close” to her, and after all that, listened to my problems. She is my true shoulder to cry on, my true best friend, and every day I’m grateful for what she does. However, Pippa is just one person. I needed a place where I belonged. During December of my 7th grade year, I tried out for the school play, which was Les Miserables (Les Mis). I got in as part of the middle school cast, which is basically some of the beggar’s children. Over the three months we rehearsed the show, the cast became so close that we almost couldn’t go a day without seeing each other. The high schoolers were so nice to us middle schoolers; I felt like I belonged with people I had only met a few weeks before. I met a few more of my absolute best friends there; *Lily, *Mark, and *John (names changed for sake of article). They have stuck by me since day one, and made me think that I’m not a waste of space, that I found people who care about me while doing something that I absolutely fell in love with. And guess what? The stage life is for me. So, dear reader, if you’re situation is like how mine used to be, let me tell you, darling, you’re beautiful. You’re skinny. You’re not a waste of space. You’re perfect just the way you are, and if you venture out a bit, you may find your shoulder to cry on.