You fall down too many times to mention

I can’t believe that it’s only Monday and that I have four more excruciating days of school to survive, four more days of interrupted dreams. Today was all right, and I’m happy to report that I’m a lot better than I was last night. I realized this afternoon that I’m probably better off than some people are. I came home today to find Alex waiting for me outside my house. At the exact moment I saw her, I remembered that today is her eighteenth birthday. And I totally forgot! I wondered what she was doing at my place today, of all days. So I got down from the car and called out happy birthday to her. She wasn’t too happy today though; she said she needed someone to talk to so I invited her in. My teachers didn’t give me any homework today for once, and I didn’t mind having company at all.

We sat in the den and she apologized about a million times about coming over today. “I had no one else to go to,” she said. I assured her it was no problem at all since I had nothing to do today anyway. After making some small talk about school, she then proceeded to tell me about all the stuff that’s been bugging her for days now. Stuff about her mom, and stuff about her social life. Based from what she told me, it sounds like her mom’s kind of insecure around her. She prefers Alex to dress like a tomboy rather than wear girly clothes because she doesn’t want her to look “too pretty”. She isn’t allowed to go to parties or the like. And even if she was, she wouldn’t have any to go to. She’s a loner at school, and I don’t think she has any other friends other than Stephen, myself, Chris and two other girls. I don’t think she tells anybody this kind of stuff except me. Even though Stephen is her best friend, I know that guys don’t really like hearing about girls’ problems. And the two other girls she’s friends with aren’t so close to her. It made me feel sorry for her, but then I got an idea. I suggested that maybe if she stopped dressing like a tomboy and fixed herself up a little, she’d feel better about herself. She’s already eighteen, for crying out loud! I’m probably not the best person for this but since she desperately needed it, I offered to help give her a makeover and change her wardrobe. She told me she’d think about it..oh well, it’s really up to her. You know, Alex would look really pretty if she gets her hair cut up to her shoulders in layers, slims down a bit and then dresses up in girly clothes. But of course, it’s her choice if she wants to stay the way she is or if she wants to try something new. I told her to just text me or whatever should she need my help, and she looked really grateful when I said that.

It must be so awful to have nobody to talk to in school, and to have so little friends. Even though my own friends don’t understand me, they at least tolerate my oddities. And despite our differences, I’d probably still get a pretty big bunch of people to attend my 18th birthday. Perhaps I shouldn’t whine too much.