Zac

While I was at work last night, I began to talk about some of my experiences in high school. And there is one I will never forget for the rest of my life. I won't go in depth with the background leading up to the story, but long story short there were some upper classmen, especially seniors, who were not treating people very well and I did not let it happen. I stood up to them and they did not like that at all. I really got treated badly by them after that. I was a sophomore at the time. But I didn't even let them faze me. They would throw things at me, yell at me during basketball practice, call me names, and run into me in the hallway to name just a few. Well anyway, Zac was dating one of these girls at the time. Zac and I were pretty good friends. We always had each others back. Well, when I got home after school one day, my mom told me that Zac was really upset about everything that was happening with me up at school. I almost started crying! It broke my heart that he was mad at me! Because he couldn't possibly be mad at his girlfriend. But he was! My mom told me that when he found out his girlfriend was involved with all that stuff, he told her that she'd better stop or he was going to break up with her. He really did have my back always! I couldn't believe that he would stick up for me to his girlfriend! I thought girlfriends always trumped everyone. It's not that I didn't believe he would do something like that, I just simply didn't have enough faith (and understanding) of the entire human race for something like that to be possible. Not only did her attitude change after that (she started actually sticking up for me, too!) but Zac continued to go out of his way to high five me in the hallway, say hi, have a conversation... all of those little things that showed everyone that I was ok and that he supported me. Did I mention that he was one of the most popular guys in school? He made all the difference in the world for me. In a place where I felt I could never win; a place where I would call my mom crying (out of fury) because of something that happened that day and the way I was being treated; a place that wore me down to the point of exhaustion and almost quitting; a place where nothing was ever fair to me; in a place like that, Zac was truly a friend. More than I could ever ask for. It took guts. But he had them. And he restored a new hope in me for mankind. Showed me that amongst all the evil, there IS in fact good in the world. He was my hero. Someone I will never forget. And most imporantly, a friend. In the purest, simplest, and most beautiful sense. A friend.

Thank you, Zac. You helped make me the person I am today. I owe you one.