I was cast as Tracy in Hairspray as a freshman and that was the root of all problems. Mrs. F complimented everyone else, cheered them on, and didn’t say one nice thing about me until opening night.

The worst thing about the whole situation was: I was going through one of the worst times I’ve ever had. A former “friend” of mine was basically bullying me to the point where I had to get the school involved. She was spreading rumors upon rumors about me all regarding theater and how I was blacklisted and cussed people out.

I contacted Mrs. F first, face to face, and broke down. I asked her to make it stop and to tell the girl to quit it. She said she would work on it. The bullying, rumors, and ostracizing lasted another year. It was then I got the school involved and I literally sat in a chair across this giant, wooden table and listened to her say, “Well, Mrs F was telling Mr A all about how you were kicked out”.

In that room, in that office, I signed away my love of theater. I said that I would drop out so I would never have to face her or Mrs F ever again.

It’s been almost a year since that happened and I’m getting better, mentally. My self confidence is still very low and I find myself to be very bitter some days, but I know that in the end, I’ll turn out better than both of them. This may seem like it’s not that terrible or others have had worse, but I’m just a teenager. I’ll have time to deal with worse. For now, this is just the most pain I’ve had to endure.