Photo by Maximilien T'Scharner on Unsplash

Once upon a time there were these friends that were not actually friends. You see, each person was being picked on by a different bully. They decided they should all hang out, that way when the bullies came around one of the supposed friends would have two other people to help protect them.

They would rotate protecting each other as they were bullied. The bullies didn’t like this, so they tried to separate the friends by telling lies that each other’s friend were supposedly saying behind their back.

The bullies were amazed they all stayed close, no matter what rumor the bullies spread.

After months of trying to separate the friends, the bullies finally gave up. You see, the friends were reporting back to each other so everyone knew what the bullies were trying to do.

What the bullies had not realized was the friends were really starting to have each other’s back. The more the bullies tried to break the friends apart, the stronger they had become as a team.

The friends recognized this and over time they had become true best friends.

— Nicole Barden 2/9/2021

Originally published in Blue Insights on Medium