New glasses and a bright green swimsuit, I was invincible. Hundreds of kids stood impatiently in line, waiting to go down the giant royal blue slide or buy candy at the overpriced concessions stands. My best friend, Nick, raised his eyebrows with enthusiasm as an enormous smile expanded across his face. We’re gonna have an amazing day.

There was no shortage of roughhousing in the shallow end of the pool. Kids of all sizes were aggressively thrashing at each other, unafraid of the possible consequences. Everything was in play: kicking, headlocks, drowning, splashing, etc. One kid grabbed a boy half his age, roped him into a headlock, and rubbed his knuckles across the top of his head with a fiery passion as if he had no regard for human life. I always enjoyed fake fighting, but not when Nick was involved. He hated contact, and when someone agitated him, he quickly became over aggressive. That being said, we had never gotten into a real fight.

After exploring the park and applying sunscreen, all of the boys in our group ventured into the shallow end of the pool. Nick’s older brother, Jeff, sprang onto his back, wrapping his arms around Nick’s shoulders and forcing his head underwater. Not long enough to hurt him, only to make him angry. When his head resurfaced, he desperately gasped for air as if his life depended on it. Instead of helping Nick, I stood behind him laughing at his expense. When he regained his focus, he turned and shouted, “That’s not f***ing funny!” He exploded. His face reddened with anger and his eyes widened, giving him the appearance of an angry bull that had just been whipped. He stood up with a burst of energy, reared back and, without hesitation, punch me as hard as he could in the face. His fist flew through the air until it collided with my glasses, instantly snapping the frame in half. My head made a sudden jerk to the side, but before I could regain my balance, Jeff had already broken up the fight.
Everyone turned to look at me. Embarrassed, I climbed out of the pool and walked to the first aid center with my broken glasses trembling in my hands. It doesn’t hurt. I’m okay, I’m not a little b****. People looked at my face, pointing and turning to their friends or spouse. I assumed it was just swelling, but when I reached up to touch it, it was covered in a thick, viscous substance, as if someone had poured Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup directly on my face.

I sat on the baby blue first aid table for what felt like an hour, replaying the five-second fight over and over in my head. The infirmary's light yellow walls, stained brown over time, were my canvas. It was the same each time; his eyes, his face, and his fist painted across the wall. Crystal clear. A lifeguard tended to my face as I stared at the wall in shock. Eventually, he asked me, “What happened to you?” I was humiliated that my best friend just punched me in public. Worse, I felt betrayed, like the person who was supposed to have my back deserted me. The pool kicked out any kids who got in fights, so for revenge, I was going to tell him everything. Everyone was going to know what Nick did, and how he wronged me. How he was so out of control, that after someone else pushed his head under water, he punched me in the face. But when I opened my mouth to reply, the words stuck in my throat.  I wanted to let my twisted version of the truth out, but I couldn’t. It felt wrong to degrade Nick; after everything that we’d been through, I saw him as a brother more than a friend. I felt like I had to protect him, because it was my responsibility to keep him out of trouble. Instead of telling the lifeguard that my best friend hit me in the face, I stretched the truth, “I hit my face on accident, and my glasses broke.”

To this day, Nick and I are best friends. We still laugh about the time he hit me in the face, but to me, that memory holds a deeper significance. It made me realize that the most important quality in a friend is loyalty. Lying for a friend isn’t always the right thing to do, but a loyal friend will stick up for you no matter the circumstances. Throughout my life, I’ve had a lot of disloyal friends. I considered telling on Nick, but it only reminded me of the times that my friends betrayed me. The last thing I wanted to do was alienate the one person I trusted most in my life.