I have never been the “Normal Kid.” I have always been a little bit out there when I wanted to be. When I came to middle school, I thought these three years would be all “Sunshine and Flowers.” I  clearly got the wake up call one of the first weeks of school. My friends that I have known since kindergarten ditched me at the lunch table. I felt like a wrecking ball hit me square in the stomach. I was in shock. I was so confused. Why would my friends that I have known since KINDERGARTEN  ditch me like that? 

Later that day, I came home from school. My mom asked the same old.  “How was your day at school, honey?”
I did not reply. At this point my mom could tell something was up and she would find out one way or another.
After that horrible day, the ditching still continued. A few days later, I was studying for a quiz and I just broke down in tears. My mom had no idea why I broke down. I finally cracked. This situation was putting so much stress on me I could not take it anymore. My mom was comforting me as much as she could. She was shocked when I told her who it was and what happened.

She told me to sit with my friends from softball and ignore those other girls who were mean to me. I did what she told me to do. I sat with my friends from softball and they welcomed me with open arms. Eventually the situation got resolved. The rest of my sixth grade year was better than what was to come…

BOOM! Seventh grade was awful. This year was  THE ABSOLUTE WORST YEAR OF MY 13 YEAR EXISTENCE. Any bullying situation that is advertised on TV and the Internet has happened to me. On Halloween my best friend, some of my other “friends,” and I went trick-or-treating. We were having fun talking and telling jokes, when suddenly one of the girls, Faith, who invited herself, started crying for no reason. So I walked over to her to see what was going on. I asked, “Hey are you okay? What is  wrong?”

She replied, “Sally called my mother terrible things.”  I was not entirely surprised. Sally, one of the other friends in our group, has a history of not being the nicest to others.  I was trying to calm Faith, because I was trying to be a good person. Five minutes passed and it was like World War III started. Faith was bawling her eyes out--no, she was screaming her lungs out-- threatening to call the cops on me. Me? Why me? I was trying to help her. Every time I told her, “CALM DOWN!” she got more intense. It was like she was like an atomic bomb, waiting to explode. Tonight was the night she was going to detonate.

  Faith was swearing at all of us and doing other horrible things as well. We were all in shock with  no idea what to do.  This was the worst night of my life:  Halloween-- and this was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. (no pun intended). I went into full panic attack mode. I started hyperventilating. Then my heart started pumping really fast.  In Faith’s hysteria, she was not making sense. Why  would she call the cops on innocent people? Sally and her sidekick, Avril, lashed out at Faith, threatening to punch her until she bleeds.  Whoa, I thought. This was getting way too out of hand.

Faith must have called her parents because they soon showed up. Instead of being calm and handling this situation like adults, Faith’s parents started screaming at us. We were acting more mature than Faith’s parents were; sadly, I could see where Faith got her attitude from. Luckily my friends and i Prevailed.

Flash forward a few months later. One of my good friends told  me that Faith and two other girls were wanting to kill me. They planned to find my house, break in, go to my room, and stab me to death. I was more than shocked. Chills ran down my spine. Why would someone want to kill me? I figure Faith and the two girls wanted to bully me so badly that I would commit suicide or they would  kill me themselves. I have no idea why they wanted me dead. I am  a good person. I try to be nice to everyone and look out for others. I just didn’t understand, and still don’t.

One night a few months ago, I realized all their threats on Instagram and Snapchat could be reported. My best friend reminded me about the report feature on Instagram. I started to feel a bit better, but there was another big hurdle to jump: telling my family that classmates are threatening to kill me. On the 12th of May, 2015, I finally broke my silence to my parents. My parents were more than shocked. They never realized in a million years their daughter would be getting death threats.

My mom immediately hugged me and said,“Ava, are you okay? You don't feel like you would commit suicide, right?” I saw the fear in my mom’s eyes. She did not want to lose one of her pride and joys.

I replied, “No mom, never in a million years. I am not going anywhere. I have better things to do than kill myself.”  My parents both were relieved. I think that was what they were scared the most about me getting bullied. My mom quickly followed, “We are going to get this settled with the school, and if they do not give us good options, we will go to the police.” She added, “We will do anything for you.  You know that. We love you so much.”

I said, “ I love you guys too. Thank you for everything.” I felt like a pile of bricks was lifted off of my shoulders. My parent hugged as hard as they could. I knew that they would make me feel safe. They did not want me to be terrified of going to school. I said to my parents, “I just want this to be over.”

My mom replies, “ I know, we will get through this.”

The weeks after I told my parents about what was happening, there was a HUGE investigation by the police and school to try to get these girls to stop. One small thing:  the bullies deleted the death threats from all of their social media platforms. So that made the investigation a whole lot harder. Plus there were no witnesses to confirm what these girls were saying. These issues made the investigation almost impossible. The police tried pretty much everything to retrieve these threats from Instagram and Snapchat, even though the posts were deleted. After a six week investigation, there was NO PUNISHMENT for the three girls. There was nothing I could do to get the justice I deserved. All my sleepless nights were for nothing. I was still so terrified of going to school. I felt like the three girls were going to sneak up with a pocket knife and stab me. To make matters worse, I sprained my ankle and was on crutches which made me more vulnerable to be attacked.

I felt like there was no answer. At this point, I was ready to investigate things for myself and  get the answer I deserved.  My parents were more than furious. They did not want me to be terrified of going to school.  No one should have to go through what I went through. It was horrible. 

Luckily, summer came at the right time. When the dismissal bell rang, I felt some sense of relief, but I did not feel completely good. Since I am not on Instagram or Snapchat I have no idea if they are still sending death threats. 

Since this time, I have surrounded myself with  family and better friends who support me and keep me happy. Outside activities, like softball, have truly been my escape from life. I feel like  I am so much stronger now. My family, my friends, and my teachers support me.  My message to anyone going through any bullying situation is you can and you will get through this. There is always a light at the end of a tunnel. If you feel like there is no escape and the only answer is suicide, surround yourself with good people and tell someone what is happening. Just know that good things come to those who wait.