Not Always Right

A week ago, I thought I would never want to be seen talking to Brooke(name changed). However that’s not her fault, she never did anything wrong. The fault is mine. I had judged her to the point where the idea of a terrible person was in my mind: a rude, fake bitch. A single thirty-minute conversation with Brooke showed me that I was wrong. Taking a second and walking in her skin helped me to get to know her, learn new things about myself, and maybe find a new friend. Brooke is a stunning, red-haired, fair-skinned, girl with dazzling blue-green eyes. On her skinny figure she wore light distressed jeans and a long-sleeve grey sweater—she rocked it. I had never talked to her in my life and I had never heard anything bad about her; I just made assumptions of my own. Before asking her anything, I told her that she could tell me anything and that it would be safe with me and I meant it. She has good grades, likes photography, and says that she doesn’t typically have issues with her friends. Then, I asked her if she was self-conscious and she said yes; she also said yes when I asked her if she considered herself to be depressed. She told me that she had family issues and that her and her parents do not get along—to this I relate in so many ways. We talked about family problems for the entire first half of our conversation. When this topic came to an end I asked a question that I’m sure she saw coming. I asked her is she cut and she said, “I used to but things have gotten better for me.” She started cutting in 7th grade because of self-hatred, depression, and family issues. I wasn’t surprised because too many freshman girls do this as well, including me. The main things I learned about her were that I was wrong and that we have a lot in common. To be honest, I learned more from this experience about myself than I learned about Brooke. When I asked Brooke to speak with me, I had an idea that the assumptions about her in my head were no doubt, correct. Because I had