Summer camp, a place to make new friends and do cool activities. It was my first day at Del Aire Day Camp in Los Angeles California. I begged my mom not to take me but the argument was futile, we had to go. My sister, Alyson, and I walked to the front of the gates terrified of who would be on the other side. I remember feeling like this was prison, inside a gated area for days.I gathered up the courage to step inside and my sister followed. The whole play area was filled with kids Alyson’s age. I went inside and saw a table full of intimidating teenagers. I met the head counselor, Ms. Candice, and she gave me a tour and sat me down with those teenagers.
  “Did you hear what happened to Azari?” they gossiped to each other without acknowledging my very shy presence. Half an hour went by and I hadn't said a word. Finally a tall braided hair girl asked what grade I was in.
“6th” I muttered.
“Oh cool! Me too!” she exclaimed. She didn't look like an incoming 6th grader. She had tanish brown skin and squinty eyes.
Then a darker skinned girl introduced herself and her friend. “I’m Alyssa and this is Chanel” she said pointing to the tall girl. Alyssa wasn't as tall and as fit as Chanel but something told me she was the alpha. It was the way she held herself, with pride and confidence.
We began to bond, actually having a lot in common. We became the 3 amigos but then we shrunk down to 2 amigos.
One day, out of the blue, Alyssa rants “Chanel is so annoying! We shouldn't hang out with her!” I didn't know what Chanel did to deserve this but from what I could tell is that she wasn't annoying at all. Chanel came late that day. She came to sit down with us when suddenly Alyssa jumps up and walks away, dragging me with her. I felt guilty but I couldn't help myself, I wanted to be cool.
The next day Alyssa absence gave me the chance to talk to Chanel.She asked why were being shady and I told her what Alyssa said. Chanel confessed about Alyssa's past, manipulating people to get her way and on-and-off friendships. After that discussion, Chanel and I became great friends and we could tell Alyssa was envious. She began to make rude comments and talk about us.
One day, Alyssa spread fake rumors about something I said toward Chanel. Obviously those rumors were false so Chanel took my side. Soon enough the rumors went to the counselors and we were called to the office. We each explained our stories and randomly Alyssa changed the story and said I said those rumors about her. The counselors became puzzled and realized Alyssa had been lying the whole time. She got the punishment she deserved and the counselors made us promise we would have to be friends. I did not want to be friends with her so for the rest of the summer I ignored and stayed away from Alyssa.
Now fast forward 2 years in the future. I made new friends, Deja, Khari, and Samad, at my middle school where Alyssa and Chanel also attend.
One day, Alyssa randomly brought her clique to my new friends and I. I had gotten over the “miscommunication” that summer and considered her as an acquaintance. She went straight up to Khari and began to flirt with him. Did I forget to mention I had a huge crush on him for 3 years! My stomach twisted and my heart dropped. This can not be happening to me. She can't know! The only person I told was Amari. I marched up to Amari and asked if she told anyone.
“I'm sorry. It slipped out of my mouth in front of her. I'm so sorry.” she rambled begging for forgiveness.
I was enraged! I wanted to punch anything that came in my way but instead of showing all that anger I put a smile on my face and went back to watch the torture.
The next day I went up to Deja to confide in her and she walked off with a bad attitude. Right after Khari confronted me and asked why I said those awful things about Deja.
“What awful things?” I shrieked confused.
“Alyssa said--”and that was all I had to hear. She was back to her old ways gossiping to ruin peoples lives.
I caught up to Deja and explained to her what was going on. She eventually came around and learned that I didn't say any of those nasty things. I got my friends back but now I had to conquer the real beast, Alyssa.
“What have I ever done to you that makes you want to ruin my friendships!Are you that pathetic that you need to spread lies about people?!” I yelled in her face. That made her shut up. I will never know if she got the message.
To tell the truth I'm glad Alyssa and I had our encounters. She might not seem like a positive influence but she taught me to choose my friends wisely and tell my secrets to the right people. People like her make people like me remember who their real friends are. I hope Alyssa finds some inner peace and quits the gossiping because if she did she would be a really cool person. I even tried to reach out to her this summer but her response was ugly. But hey, I tried to be the bigger person. I guess I always was.