Question:
At my school there are these people that say they are my friends, but they also act like that don't like me sometimes. I just don't know if they like me or not because I know a lot of people tend to hate me when they don't even know me.  I really don't know how to tell if they're my real friends or not!
-anonymous

Kielys Response:

The way I see it:

Like it or not there will always be people in your life who do more bad for you than good. The trick is to quickly spot those people and guard yourself. I don’t want to go into a cliché lecture about the meaning of true friendship because, to be perfectly honest, I am still figuring it out. But, I happen to live in sunny LA, a place where everyone acts like your best friend when they see you but never call you…ever. So, I know a little bit about the whole two-faced trifling chick situation. To that end, my advise to you is to stay away from those girls or as I like to tell my girlfriends “Pay them dust!” It’s a little technique that my buddy Shawna calls giving them the “Stiff Arm Palm”. Ignore them, find friends that make you feel good about you. You don’t let other people make you feel bad about yourself. You’re the only one allowed to do that! (lol)

On another note, and one that concerns me more, is that you have it in your head that “people hate you”. The reason why that makes me nervous is because I have that very same fear and, my teen years were really rough because of it. I would walk into a room and automatically think everyone in the room despised me. At the  time I couldn’t say why but now, I realize that I was assuming everyone thought about me what I thought about myself. Self doubt can really knock you on your tush. Be proud of who you are and never think for a minute that people won’t see the good in you.

-Kiely