High school is always a pivotal point in a persons life; friendships are made and broken, emotions and tensions run high, and no one really makes it out unchanged. Henry David Thoreau once said, “All good things are wild and free,” and maybe this is what pushed me to run from my problems and explore a different side of myself before I returned to the people who had broken my heart so easily. A great deal happened to me in the past three weeks of the beginning of my junior year in high school, and I needed to get myself away from where I was and free myself of the torment that surrounded me. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so distraught over something so silly as a broken relationship. I am not one to drop names, so I will use “this person” to symbolize whom I am talking about. This is not something I have spent every minute thinking about and yet I have at the same time. This person was important to me; we formed a quick bond that I felt was indestructible, but I was soon to realize that it is naive to feel such a way. I began to feel insecure about myself and so unimportant and alone. I ran away and was instantly freed from my problems and put me into my own blissful exile.

This story begins with the launch of my junior year. I had been elated and positive about the new year. The new classes, the new experiences, the new opportunities to better myself and perfect everything from my body to my mind. Although this person and I had begun to drift apart at the end of sophomore year, this person, nonetheless, present in my life. I was not too discouraged, however, because the real damage had yet to occur. Two weeks went by like mere minutes would, sending my head and heart into a whirlwind of emotional uncertainty. This year had begun so differently from the past two years. In reality, nothing had changed except me. My friends were the same as they had been last two years of my high school career. I attribute several things to why I chose to run from my problems. Me being so different is one of the many factors. I was no longer this girl who would be so trusting to anyone. I became a girl with trust issues because my trust had been demolished by this “friend”. I no longer trust because I have seen what a true liar looks like. This new year I had noticed several differences in others. The people who had once been my good friends never spoke to me. They seemed to avoid me intentionally and hung closer to the person who hurt me and seemed to hate me at this point. For a few weeks it didn’t bother me. People change and that is something that I had gotten accustomed to. The moment, however, came when I realized that this person truly did not want me to be their friend, let alone in their life. This person said things to me and about me that cut deep like a knife. I had never known what true betrayal felt like untill that moment. This person was someone I could tell everything to and someone who supported me and made me feel loved. The moment this person took all the things we shared and threw it away for something so unimportant, was the moment I felt my metaphorical heart shatter. I say metaphorical because a true heart cannot shatter, whereas a metaphorical heart can. A metaphorical heart can break and turn sour. Maybe it is the mind that is the metaphorical heart. My thoughts turned on me and everywhere I went I couldn’t help but think, did I do something wrong? Was I the problem? Even though I knew I had done nothing. It was just my mind, my metaphorical heart, aching to think on my predicament more than I ought to.

It was my last weekend of work, and it was hard to put my thoughts aside and forget. I managed to try and think on something else, but easier said than done. Work became something that kept my mind from wandering and kept my body busy. School was harder that week. I couldn’t escape this person at school, however. There were signs of this person everywhere, especially in class. I had to face all the people who had once been my friends, and now were just mere strangers. I spent the week with my head down and pushing myself harder and harder at practice to get rid of the tension and anger that grew inside me. Somehow the burn in my muscles distracted me from the pain in my chest. I had grown so tired by the end of the week and wanted nothing more than to run and hide from my mind. Running away was something I needed and something that helped me come to my senses in the long haul. Traditionally, when one thinks of running away, they think of cutting off ties, going off alone, and never returning. My type of running away was very untraditional.

I could no longer stay in the same place so I planned the “trip”. I asked someone who would not judge, ask, or push for why I was so down in the dumps. Naturally, this someone is my grandmother. She understood that I wasn’t happy and was eager to take me back to her home in Tucson, Arizona. I will love her forever for that trip. She booked the hotel for two nights and three days. She took me to eat at my favorite places. She took care of me, just like she used to when I was a little girl. While in Tucson, we spent a lot of time in the hotel, sleeping mostly. The events of the previous week had drained all my emotional, mental and physical energy. I got the opportunity to forget and not be reminded of everything I left behind and focus on myself. I was relaxed and happy again. Tucson offered me freedom and room to breathe and get away. For me, Tucson will always be the place that I can return to in order to forget my troubles and be the girl I used to be.This trip brought me back to my senses and made me more aware of myself.

By running away, I was able to figure out that even though this person had wronged me, I wasn’t going to let this person bring me any lower. I could go on and return knowing that I felt confident and secure in myself enough to face that person again if need be. While this person still remains anonymous, they still look me in the eye every day, and I can look back equally powerful and steadfast. By running away from my problems, I was able to go back, face them and beat them. My problems can’t hold me back, they can only make me stronger in the end. My metaphorical heart had been only bruised when I thought that it had been broken, and bruises can heal. The time I ran away, was the time that I found myself again.