Vee
Vee has always been an interesting character. All throughout middle school and most of freshman year, Allisen saw Vee as nothing but a mean, arrogant bully. Her perspective changed when she started getting to know Vee better, and gained a little insight into why Vee acted the way she did.
For the remainder of freshman year, and into sophomore year, Allisen and Vee seemed to have, if not a casual friendship, a mutual understanding of each other. Allisen was always kind to Vee and often reached out to her—encouraging her to talk to Nalcie during Awareness Day, giving her a Christmas present, choosing her as her partner for classwork, vouching for her in regard to the mission trip. Vee, in turn, occasionally talked with Allisen, never allowing her to get too close, but not actively pushing her away either.
Until March. Vee caught a lot of flak from her “friends” for her desire to go on the mission trip. In an attempt to prove that she wasn’t a “goody-goody,” Vee created and spread nasty rumors targeting Jack and Allisen’s relationship. The result? Nearly destroying her tentative relationship with the one person she could be real with.
Allisen was able to forgive Vee, partly because she knew Vee had a pretty messed-up life and partly because there wasn’t any lasting effect on her relationship with Jack. Allisen was also able to look beyond her own anger and recognize that Vee needed a chance to get away from her bad-influence friends. And the mission trip did have a positive impact on Vee. The question now is, will the impact last once Vee returns home to her miserable life and bad-influence friends?
Vee pretends that everything’s perfect, but in reality, she’s pretty unhappy with who she is as a person. If you see pieces of yourself in Vee, and you want to be a better person but aren’t sure how, here are some tips:
For the remainder of freshman year, and into sophomore year, Allisen and Vee seemed to have, if not a casual friendship, a mutual understanding of each other. Allisen was always kind to Vee and often reached out to her—encouraging her to talk to Nalcie during Awareness Day, giving her a Christmas present, choosing her as her partner for classwork, vouching for her in regard to the mission trip. Vee, in turn, occasionally talked with Allisen, never allowing her to get too close, but not actively pushing her away either.
Until March. Vee caught a lot of flak from her “friends” for her desire to go on the mission trip. In an attempt to prove that she wasn’t a “goody-goody,” Vee created and spread nasty rumors targeting Jack and Allisen’s relationship. The result? Nearly destroying her tentative relationship with the one person she could be real with.
Allisen was able to forgive Vee, partly because she knew Vee had a pretty messed-up life and partly because there wasn’t any lasting effect on her relationship with Jack. Allisen was also able to look beyond her own anger and recognize that Vee needed a chance to get away from her bad-influence friends. And the mission trip did have a positive impact on Vee. The question now is, will the impact last once Vee returns home to her miserable life and bad-influence friends?
Vee pretends that everything’s perfect, but in reality, she’s pretty unhappy with who she is as a person. If you see pieces of yourself in Vee, and you want to be a better person but aren’t sure how, here are some tips:
- Find someone new to hang out with. Someone who is kind and will listen, who won’t judge you for your mistakes but will just be there for you. Does that sound hard? It might be. But look around. Look at all the people you’ve never considered having as friends before—maybe the kids who are a little weird or different. You’ll never know what they’re really like unless you get to know them.
- Find a way to serve the community. It doesn’t have to be a huge mission trip like the one Vee went on. Maybe you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or animal shelter. See if you can spend some time visiting people in a nursing home or hospital, or helping out at your local elementary school’s after-school program. Dosomething.org also has a lot of cool DIY service projects you could get involved with.
- Join a club or team at your school. Pick something out of your normal comfort zone and meet new people! Or get involved in a church youth group or a leadership program at the Y. Don’t worry about not being accepted—this is your chance to make new friends and let them know the real you.
- Pray about it. Develop a relationship with God. I don’t know whether you think about God a lot or not at all, but either way, He’s always there for you. Talk to Him the way you would talk to a friend. Tell him about all your problems and ask Him for help. And believe that no matter how far-fetched it may seem right now, He has a plan for you.