We Don't Need Boys

• Madison Williams, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2011

I used to think that the hardest decision I’d have to make was what I was going to wear in the morning. Now that I’m older and (somewhat) more mature than I was two years ago, I know that’s not the truth.
My name is Maddy, and in just two years, I’ve changed more than I could ever have imagined, and it was all because of a boy.
Can’t live with them, can’t live without them, eh?
It started how every romantic relationship does.
With a crush.
His name was Brad, and he’d been my older sister Alice’s best friend for a few years. The three of us would walk home together after school, for he only lived around the corner from us, and sometimes he would stay for an hour or so. We even went to the movies regularly.
After a while, I realised, I have a crush on my sister’s best friend.
I had to keep it a secret, of course, as he was over two and a half years older than myself. My parents would never let me date a boy that much older than me.
Besides, I was only fourteen. Why would he bother wasting his time with a youngster like me?
You can imagine my surprise when he asked my mother for permission to date me, and she said yes!
That was the best day of my life (so far).
I was with Brad for a year before my perfect world started to crumble around me, and my biggest fear began coming to life.
You see, I didn’t agree to date Brad straight away; I approached him the next day with my answer. I spent that night lying awake in my bed, wondering what it would be like dating Brad in two, maybe three years time. I came to the conclusion that as he got older, he would grasp the concept that he would be able to go out and party with his friends and get drunk. With me being younger, I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to follow him.
Then it started to happen.
After a year or so, we began arguing because I was constantly being left behind as he went to parties with his mates. It came to the point we were arguing so much, he wouldn’t even hug me.
Rejection had never hurt so much.
That was when I became conscious of how different I was.
I used to be confident in myself. After a year of being happy with a boy, then six months of being ignored, I came to the conclusion that I had been happy before I met Brad. I could be happy again without him. I didn’t need to lean on him. I didn’t need a boy to make me happy.
My friends make me happy. I know they will always be there for me and love me unconditionally, because they love me for who I am. I wouldn’t be me without them.
I love you buddies!