I had always thought of myself as a kind, loving little girl. I was all my teacher's favorite, I never forgot my homework or blurted or anything. I thought that those qualities kept me out of the bad person category.

It turns out, I was smack dab in the middle of the bully category. Why? Because of Austin. He was a pudgy boy, who could never seem to tell the truth. We all teased him and were so mean, even the teachers.  he lied about everything to try and make himself more popular. He ate Mcdonalds, where we all ate organic all-natural stuff. I remember one time he left class to go to the bathroom, and when he got back the teacher told him he had missed this giant party we had, where we ate popcorn and watched star wars. He burst into tears and ran away, and we all laughed. 

The saddest thing was, Austin lied about everything because he wanted to be somebody else. He had to eat McDonald's because his mom couldn't afford anything else. He had been living in New Orleans during the hurricane, and hid Dad and brothers were killed. He told people, "when my dad comes home.." and "when my brother gets back from college.." all the time. And we knew they were gone, and we laughed at him and told him that. We were so mean. I am ashamed of my elementary school self for cheering with everyone else when he announced he was switching schools. I now know he was moving because of me. And I wish I could talk to him now, and tell him how sorry I am.