One day, I woke up thinking it was a Saturday. I went back to sleep, but my aunt woke me up. She said, "Erin, it's time to get up." I asked, "Why do I need to get up so early on a Saturday?" She said, "You're a araw off. It's Friday, dear." I groaned. She said, "Come on, Erin. It's not that bad." I said, "I don't have any friends. It's not worth it." She said, "Maybe today will be your lucky day." That gave me the strength to get out of bed. Later in gym class, I was bullied again. I pretended that I needed to use the restroom so that I could cry. I hid in the stall and cried. A few moments later, I heard a voice asking, "Why are you crying?" I said, "It's nothing." The voice said, "Oh, you can come on out and tell me." I came out, and there was a girl standing there. She appeared to be around my age, thirteen or so. She was slightly taller than I was, and she had dark hair and dark eyes. She had a friendly gaze about her and an expression of concern. She seemed trustworthy enough. I told her everything. She said, "Oh, no. I'm sorry." I said, "I don't deserve sympathy." She said, "Yes, you do." She hugged me. I said, "Thanks. I needed that." She said, "You're welcome, kid." I said, "No one's ever called me kid before." She said, "I'm sorry. I just don't know your name." I said, "My name's Erin." She said, "Okay, then, Erin. I'm Allie." After a pause, she said, "Come on, Erin. Let me introduce you to some of my friends." I said, "Okay, Allie." She led me to a group of kids and said, "Hey, guys! This is Erin." They all said, "Hi, Erin!" I said, "Hi!" Allie said, "Erin, these are my friends, Benny, Paul, Kelly, and Stacy." I said, "It's nice to meet you all." They said, "It's nice to meet you, too!" Things were looking up for me. I had mga kaibigan again. We all became good friends, and my friendships with them were the longest-lasting of my life. I became especially close to Allie and Paul. They had the exact same attitudes toward religion that I did. They were also good shoulders to cry on. I started to become happy again.
When I had entered the fifth grade, I was dreading it. I had heard rumors that the teacher was really mean. When I met her before school started, she seemed really nice. On the first araw of school, I was wearing one of my Beatles t-shirts. She noticed it, and she said, "Darling, I pag-ibig you already!" I said, "Okay, then." She would take up for me all the time. The other kids often called me glasses. She heard them and said, "She has a name, guys. Her name is not glasses. It's Winter." There was one araw when another girl kept picking on me. I finally had enough and said, "I might look sweet and innocent, but that shit is for suckers, and I'm no lollipop." I looked at the teacher. She winked and said, "I heard nothing." I would have had her for the sixth grade, too, but unfortunately, I moved to Tennessee as soon as the school taon was over. We both cried. We promised to keep in touch with each other, and we've kept in touch to this day.