One time when i was about 8 i was obsessed with reading so much so my parents took all of my books and confiscated them and told me “you will not get any of your books back until you learn to socialize and can introduce me to a friend or 2 of yours” it felt so unfair i just wanted to get back to reading my books so i begged “ dad please i dont know any of them they are strangers and your the one who told me to never talk to strangers” but they were adamant and would not give them back “i know what i said that still doesnt change the fact that you cant be stuck in here all by yourself all of the time i want you to go outside and try and make one or 2 friends at least you wont get your books back until you do” “ fine but pinky promise after i do i can have all of my books back or i wont do it” “i promise” he said as i felt his calassed and scratch pinky wrap around mine i decided to go outside with permission of course and i went walking around the gravel of our driveway slowly giving way to the smooth concrete of the sidewalk i was to nervous to even try to talk to anyone and started picking at my fingers until i fealt the cool drip of my blood start flowing down my fingers i started to mumble to myself and tried to tell myself it was okay “your okay mickayla dont cry god im scared what do i do do i just try to talk to them but i dont know them ummm i want to go back inside what do i do” it was too warm and i felt like i had butterflies in my stomach ”i dont want to be out here i dont like the sun tis to warm im thirsty and my stomach feels so weird” i wanted to talk to the other kids but they were all with their friends and i didnt know what to do i ended up scratching my arm to get my mind off of it i was to scared to say anything so i ended up sitting on the sidewalk for about 3 hours mumbling to myself “its okay im fine dont cry” over and over again and rubbing my hands against the hot concrete until a couple of little girls came up to me and asked “ excuse me my name is natalie and her name is victoria what’s your name” ”my name is mickayla” “ nice to meet you mickayla would you like to play tag with us we need another player or little just be us 2 chasing each other” “okay im new to this game tho could you tell me how to play” “sure it’s really simple see the person thats the tagger is it and they chase the other people playing until they tap them on the shoulder or on the back but you can’t push anyone that’s against the rules also when the tagger gets you that means your it” said victoria when my parents came out they said “mickayla do you want to come back inside you can have your books back if you want them” “no thanks i’m playing tag victoria is it” i said as i ran off at the time it felt so unfair but now i understand that they were just trying to help me out