Stick Up by Kristen

Middle school can be a brutal place. Scary, intimidating kids walk around, bullying every kid in sight that was either short, had braces, glasses or was bigger. There was once a time I got so irritated by a bully that I stood up for the victim. I'm not great at standing up for others or myself, either.

It was recess, where there isn't that much supervision. Trevor M. walked up to Emily C. n her birthday and called her fat, ugly, stupid and other words that shouldn't be repeated. Emily was so upset, she started crying, and I have never seen her cry. Trevor put a grin on his face, which made me even more angry. I ran up to Trevor and confronted him. I knew that he was insecure and he just felt that hurting other people would make him feel more powerful, but that's not how it should be. I told him Emily is stunning. She's one of the smartest girls I know, and she is not fat, in fact, she's quite skinny. Trevor's eyes widened while Emily stopped crying. I thought that Trevor would do something mean to me for sticking up for Emily, but all he did was walk away, pouting. I was proud of myself. I didn't know I had that in me! Emily and I left the playground feeling better than ever.

Win big! We’re also giving away 3 copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens. All you have to do to enter is send us your story—you’ll be automatically entered to win. Sorry! One entry per person, even if ya send in multiple stories. The winners will be chosen randomly and emailed for their mailing address so we can send you your prize.

Heart this post? You’ll love these, too!

» Cute costumes you can DIY

» Head  to Halloween Party Central for monster mashes, scary movie sleepovers and more!

» LOL! Our 12 best Halloween bloopers

WIN BIG! It’s a fall BFF footwear frenzy. Enter Now!

Want more ways to get GL? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

by GL Reader | 2/1/2016