Doing the Right Thing
Doing the Right Thing
by Jayla Nickens-Gill
How do you help someone who won’t even help themself? How do you be there for someone who has given up on so much in life? How do you do the right thing, even when it’s hard?
I went to school with a girl. I won’t say her name for privacy reasons, but she was always sad and depressed. She never wanted to try anything or do anything. She would sit by herself and just exist, didn’t look like she was even alive, she probably didn’t feel alive. I would stare at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking about, and ways I could help her, but my mind was blank. I could’ve just gone on with my life, not caring about this girl like all the other students, but I couldn’t. I knew I had to help her.
One day I decided that I would be a person she could rely on. When I went to school that day, she was sitting down at one of the lunch tables reading a book. As I made my way over to her, I stopped in my tracks as I watched as the “mean” girl pushed the sad girl off the chair. The “mean” girl was way taller than me and the sad girl. I walked over and helped the girl off the floor. That’s when I noticed the cuts on her arm. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. I felt like I was going to vomit after seeing the fresh cuts she had made. I watched as she quickly pulled her sleeves down to cover her arm.
I grabbed her and took her to the bathroom. I asked the most basic question. “Why?” and she started crying, she just stood in the middle of the bathroom crying. She told me how she was tired of being bullied, she was tired of not being able to be herself, she was tired of everything, and she didn’t want to feel alone anymore. I walked over and hugged her. I didn’t know this girl. I didn’t know her name or where she lived but I hugged her. I could feel her tears through my shirt as she cried. We spent the rest of the school day inside the bathroom together.
The next few days, it was me and this girl sitting together at lunch. Us sitting together at lunch turned into us spending hours at my house, which turned into us being best friends. This girl who had been sad and depressed is now outgoing and happy. She’s no longer alone and she’ll never be alone. Every time I see her I know I did the right thing.
10/8/2021