It was a very gray day when I was first introduced to the deceitful Scarlett Hope. Sometime in the middle of October she showed up at my house. I had spent the better half of the day not even noticing that she had been there the whole time, I'd spent it alone. The air in the house was thick, almost too thick for me to breathe. I knew today was different, my anxiety was running high, things were going through my mind at a mile a minute. I went to talk to my mother about it, to try expressing how I was feeling, she ignored me. After getting into an argument with my mother about her not being there for me when I need her, I was feeling worn out, and then I finally saw her. I had heard about her from a friend, and I had seen her a few times without really knowing her myself. She was just sitting there, as if she was waiting for me to go over to her. At first I was weary, I didn't know if I should go to her, or if I should walk away. Something about her made me want to know her, I wondered if she could help me. I choose to walk up to her, little did I know, that decision would change my life forever.

In the beginning our friendship was awkward, I would only meet up with her a few times a month, and we wouldn’t spend much time together. Only when I was having a dreadful day would I call upon her to be with me. She didn’t ask questions, and I liked that about her. I had been warned by others that she was opinionated, pushy, that she wanted things to go her way, and that a friendship with her wasn’t healthy. I didn’t see it this way, she didn’t act the way they had told me.

One day, I was feeling exceptionally bad, things just weren’t going well, so I called Scarlett Hope to talk. “Hey Scarlett, I need your advice, I'm just not feeling like myself anymore”, I told her.

“Its okay, things will be okay, just avoid confrontation with anyone who might make you feel upset. Still, don't let others push you around, stand up for yourself.” she replied with a stern voice.

In the back of my head, I knew right then that I had lost control. The relationship between me and Scarlett Hope had just taken a turn for the worst. After this day I began to hang out with Scarlett Hope more often, although it never lasted long, the effects she left me with after were quite visible. The more we hung out, the worse I got. I would argue against things that before, seemed minimal to other problems. My mother had become the direction of all my anger, everything she had done was always on my mind. Every time she ignored me when I needed her, when she dropped plans the day of, after weeks of planning and hype, and the way she spoke to me, as if I was a stranger she'd rather not talk to. It had gotten to the point where I did not know how to deal with it anymore, so I had Scarlett Hope do it for me.

I would spend a little time with Scarlett Hope, and then spend hours thinking of her. My only escape was school, until one day she showed up there too. I knew it was getting bad, and I had to stop it. As tempting as she was, my thoughts had altered to something I did not want for myself. I tried hard to keep her away. I went from spending time with her everyday, to only once a week. She begged me to let her visit more often, and when that did not work how she wanted, she resulted in making me feel bad about who I had become. I did my best to block her out, to think of things more pleasant, but she was strong. I was about to give up, and let her come back, when I faintly heard something that sounded like “Don't do it, if you don't believe in it”. After hearing that, I did not let Scarlett Hope come back, she did however pop up from time to time, but not like she used to. I had gotten control back over my life, Scarlett could not hurt me anymore, and I knew things would get better. Although they will never be the same, in a way I believe I am stronger and wiser after this devastating friendship.