A French Bulldog and That One Time I was Bullied

When I think of a bully I initially conjure an image of a big tall kid beating up a skinny kid and stealing his lunch money.

The reality is that’s not exactly true and I realized I know this first hand because in highschool I was bullied. It’s a memory I had forgotten about until I sat down to write this post, but as I thought about what it means to be a bully, I recalled a very traumatic time in my adolescence. It’s a scene right out of Mean Girls and the Plastics who made my life a living hell my freshman year. I’m not sure you wanna hear this story, but I’m gonna tell it anyway. It’s uncharacteristic of me to tell this deep and personal of a story, but figure let’s try it and see where it goes.

It was a private school where kids from all different towns went, and freshman year was, well, starting fresh. I was nervous about it since I was leaving all of the friends I had been in school with up to the 8th grade but I had made friends with lots of new girls I really liked and was feeling good about things.  Then the worst thing happened: I got mono. Yes, the illness that takes you out of school for a mandatory 30 days. I was so disappointed and afraid everyone would forget about me but a girl I had bonded with Erin,* (name changed to protect the not so innocent) assured me she had my back and even came to visit me at home during my time out of school and brought me my homework. She assured me I wasn’t missing out on anything.

When I was finally cleared to return to school I was beyond thrilled. I showed up expecting to jump back into my new social circle when to my horror no one would talk to me. There were snickers and whispers and I had no idea why. Even Erin breezed by between classes as if she was in a hurry. When I got to lunch the stuff hit the fan. I went to the lunch table where about 15 of us usually sat and had a serious ‘you can’t sit with us’ moment. One of the girls who was sort of the head of the clique, let’s call her Regina George, came up and started yelling that I was talking about not only her, but all of the girls I had befriended, behind their backs and a whole lot of stuff I can’t really remember. It was a blur, I had no idea what she was talking about. I had been gone for a month, how could she possibly think that I would do that? No matter how much I tried to defend myself or tell her it wasn’t true it didn’t matter. I had been gone too long. No one believed me.

For the rest of the year Regina made sure none of the other girls would associate with me. I ate lunch in the bathroom and cried everyday. It finally came out that good ole Erin was behind the whole thing. She had intentionally sabotaged me spreading lies while I was at home sick and even though she came to my house to visit me, she was being a sneaky life ruining bully. Apparently she thought if I was out of the picture she would be besties with Regina and the most popular girl in school. That didn’t happen and she left at the end of the school year.

The next school year brought new students and most was forgotten, but man was that first year hell. If you know me, it’s probably hard to imagine I went through that since I’m really a confident, strong, independent, take no crap kind of person. That experience probably played a role in that. No kid should ever have to go through something so traumatic as a result of another kid. Life is hard enough. Compassion Brands agrees and has created a line of shirts and accessories where proceeds are donated to bully victims. So listen to this French Bulldog on my shirt and don’t be a bully! Also go get one of these shirts  or necklaces and spread the word!

Have you ever experienced being bullied? I’d love to hear your stories! Comment, email, instagram or tweet at me!

A quick mention about the rest of the outfit: just because the shirt has a serious message, doesn’t mean the outfit needs to be stuffy. I love this skirt because it can easily be dressed up or down and this Levis moto I picked up at Crossroads a few years ago is a nice spin on the denim jacket. Denim + leather + graphic t, + classic heels + gold accessories + it bag = perfect outfit every time.

{Tank and necklace: Compassion Brands, Skirt: H&M, Shoes: c/o JustFab, Sunnies: c/o Sole Society, Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Daria Bracelet, Doe Ring, Tiera Ring: c/o Robyn Rhodes}

Don’t forget to use code glamlatte20 for 20% off at RobynRhodes.com!

XO,