I've been bullied most of my life. I had an extremely chaotic homelife (I'm adopted and my adopted mom took in foster kids). At school, I was an outsider, and wished people would just ignore me, but they didn't. Things were bad, but tolerable up until eighth grade. That's when it really started.

I was overweight and smart, neither of which helped my case. People fatter than me would sit there at the lunch table and say "Why do you eat so much?" then they'd start laughing. People would throw paper wads at me. They would pull my hair, poke me with pencils, and kick me. One day in Home Ec, one of the girls stuck a sewing needle in my butt, and all the other students started laughing. I worried about AIDS for the next few years. Still do, every now and then. Sometimes the students would lie about me to the teachers or twist something I had said or done and then the teachers would jump on my case. I couldn't figure out why people hated me so much.

Graduation day was one of the happiest days of my life. I went on to college, but had to drop out because of depression and anxiety. I've got a part-time job now. It's not very busy, but everytime I see a person walk through the door, my heart starts beating in panic. I am deathly afraid of people and horribly alone. However, I make enough to have my own apartment, and am happier now than I have ever been in my whole life. Maybe one day, I'll be able to get over my fear and make some friends. I hope.