Send
Friends, Peers, and Enemies 159
pushing me. Okay?” If they’re true friends, they’ll get the message and stop bugging you
about finding a boyfriend—and they’ll still respect you and like you. On the other hand, if they
continue to pressure you, I suggest that you find some single girls to hang out with. I’m sure
there are plenty of them in your classes. Girls who aren’t so obsessed with guys have a great
time going out and doing things together. Have fun!
In friendship,
Terra
They want to keep picking
on this girl
’
but I don’t
Hey Terra,
This nerdy girl was bothering me and my friends. She did these really annoying things just to
bug us, especially in science where she was always bringing in newspaper articles to impress
the teacher. Anyway, me and my friends got tired of her talking to us like we were airheads,
so we decided to get back at her. We started picking on her and putting mean signs on her
locker and stuff. None of what we did was all that serious, but it probably wasn’t very nice
either. And even though she totally stopped talking to us, we kept it up. The thing is, I feel
kind of guilty about it now, and I want to stop treating this girl so bad. But my friends say that
if I do, they’ll drop me.
Feeling Guilty
Dear Feeling Guilty,
Although it’s very uncool to target someone because he/she is “nerdy,” I admire that you now
realize what you did was wrong. I also respect you for being ready to move on.
Begin by apologizing to the girl you’ve been picking on. Once you say you’re sorry, and
mean it, you won’t feel so guilty anymore (and she may feel a little less hurt).
The next step is to talk to your friends. Tell them you’ve had enough of this juvenile stuff,
and you aren’t going to participate in the fight any longer. You might say, “I know that I was
in on this thing at first, but it just doesn’t feel right to me anymore. I’m not going to keep