Hi. My name is Victoria. I'm currently in middle school, but at the time this story takes place, I was in 4th grade. At my school, there was a very defined social hierarchy. Even in 4th grade, it was clear who was popular and who wasn't. At the beginning of 4th grade, I was on top. I had a tight knit group of friends. Most of my friends were popular without trying. I didn't fall into that category;I was simply cool because I hung out with them. The trouble started when I was placed in my class. I was in something called a 'combination class', where the class was made of 2 grades. Due to the small amount of 4th graders in my class, there were only 3 other girls in the class. At first I was hesitant about getting to know them, they weren't exactly what you would call 'cool', and I was very anxious about my social status. The three girls were named May, Cara and Louisa. May and cara were fairly nice, but Louisa was special. She went out of her way to be friends with me, and i was grateful. Soon, I found myself hanging out with her more than my old group. Me and my old friends had a fight, and I no longer played with them. All was good, until, around Christmas, Louisa started acting strange. She was very competitive with me, and tried to beat me at everything. She tried to exclude me, and would lash out at me constantly. I tried to look past it. She became more and more violent, at one point she kicked me when I said she was cheating at a game. Things reached a tipping point over the summer. I was at her house, and she was climbing this big tree in her backyard. She told me to climb up the tree. Being very frightened of heights, I refused. She kept saying that I was stupid, and a wimp, and that if I wasn't going to climb the tree, then she wasn't going to play with me. I finally worked up the nerve, and climbed off a chair to get onto the first branch, which was about five feet off the ground. She then jumped down and kicked the chair on its side so I had no way down. I started crying, and then when she called me a wimp, I jumped off and scraped my knee. However, the worst moment was when we went back to school shopping. Every time I tried to buy something she would yell at me. She screamed at me until I brought everything on her list to me. She even made me buy her a few extras. She even hit me when I said I wouldn't. There seemed to be no way out. Louisa was my only friend. I told my parents, and they said I could never see her again. This was all good and well, until I saw the new class list. Louisa was in my class! I was dreading the start of school, as I was sure to be a friendless loser. But when school started, I bonded with a girl named Lacey. She had used to be my friend, but our friendship had wnded on good terms, and I was the only person she knew in the class. Soon, Lacey and I became friends with some of the 'popular girls'. We were accepted into their group of friends. Contrary to popular belief, being popular doesn't make you mean. These new friends were nice and understanding, and I was able to cut off all ties to Louisa with their help. My story has a happy ending, and I'm grateful for that. If you are going through bullying, then just know: Even if you feel completely alone, you won't always be. There is a solution, a way for you to find friends who care about you, even if you haven't thought of it yet. A good trick is to thing about yourself two years from now, with all of these troubles behind you. Live in that moment for awhile. You deserve your happy ending.