Isabella Ophoven

Identity. That's what it seems like we are all searching for. Acceptance. That's what we all desire. I should know. Skipping a grade has forced me to grow up a tad bit faster and yet still I have just a few close circle of friends. Charlie just happened to be one of them. I'm not going to dodge the issue or the name because everyone around school knows. It was Charlie they took in for questioning. It was Charlie's letters that were taken. They...they just don't understand. They don't know what it's like. Or if they do, they try to prevent us from making the same mistakes. Yet, we need to make those mistakes in order to learn. I'm not saying that I've done something like that because I'm practically the cleanest person in Grand Heights. No, that was my decisions not to do anything like that. But if my friends make that decision, that's there choice. It just means that I'll be there to drive them home and keep them safe. Does that make me a good friend? Perhaps so, perhaps not. But if my friend decides to do something as stupid as posting nude pictures, I'm not going to stop them because it's their choice. I suppose that makes me passive. I suppose that's quite true too. But they are the only friends I've got and advice can only go so far. But that's not what has the school so torn is it now? No, the school has divided us down the middle...it has divided me down the middle.
Nude pictures. Yes, nude pictures have caused an uproar in our school. Now the teachers are digging through our lockers and finding our secrets. I wish how I could explain how that feels. Its almost as if someone has strapped you down and forced you to watch them probe your mind for things you don't even know about yourself. I can't say its helping us. Because you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Like Dave and his girlfriend. Abuse. Everyone knew. Everyone heard about it. Everyone tried to help but she just pushed everyone away. What could we do?
But Charlie? What they did to him, I'll never forgive him for. Why don't you just steal my diary for Christ's sake! After Patrick and Sam left, there was no one for him. So George and I started talking to him and he began to talk back. We are rather alike Charlie and I. He talks about this sort of "participating" that George doesn't really understand. But it makes perfect sense to me. Participating in life instead of looking from outside, in. Yes, I experienced it the first days of high school. George doesn't understand because he has always been popular. But now I am just rambling. I guess this whole thing is one long rant. I haven't really gotten to a point either.
My point and my belief...they are...complex...complicated if you will. I believe that adults should help but they should never invade a person's space. How, one might ask, can they help then? Just by talking. Talking helps. Listening helps. Being there...that helps. High School is the years of mistakes. Its one of the few times we release we can't erase and must take responsibility for our actions. But we don't need the parents and teachers to nose into our lives like some kind of blood hound. It breaks trust. It breaks privacy. It breaks us.
Who can we trust now?

Who can I trust?

~Isabella Ophoven