There was a girl named Carrie who ruled the halls with fear. Everyone was scared of her. One day she came after a girl named Alana in the parking lot. Alana didn’t run. She turned around and asked one word: “Why?”
Carrie said, “You think you’re better than me.”
Alana said, “I don’t think about you at all. And I’m done being afraid of someone who can’t even tell me why they’re angry.”
That night, Carrie sat on her bed and realized something: she’d built a whole kingdom of fear, and she was the only one living in it. She cried for the first time in a year. In the morning she walked into the counselor’s office and said, “I think I need help.”
Hurt people hurt people. It doesn’t excuse it—but it explains it. And it means bullies can change too, if they’re brave enough to look at themselves.