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It’s a classic high school tale: there’s always a boy or girl who is extremely quiet and is a bit of a mystery during your school years.
But sometimes there’s a breakthrough and this person actually lets some folks into their life.
People who befriended “the quiet kid” talked about their experiences on AskReddit.
Here’s what they had to say.
1. RIP.
“That she was always so helpful, so sweet and so talented.
Poor girl d**d because of a brain tumor when she was in her teens.
I befriended her in junior high when she was diagnosed.”
2. Kids can be cruel.
“He took his time talking.
It was unnerving at first but then kind of cool. Like he actually thought about every response he made and how those responses could be perceived.
People can be cruel and pushy though because he seemed slow. It could be pretty bad…”
3. A smart kid.
“In eighth grade there was a new student who was extremely shy and sat next to me in History class.
Little by little, I became one of the only people who he’d open up to. I learned that he had Aspergers and had recently transferred from a school where he was consistently bullied.
I wish people knew how intelligent he was; he was one of the smartest people I had ever met. He told me he dreamt of working for NASA one day and how passionate he was about physics and math.
We parted ways after middle school because we ended up going to different high schools. I am now in college and was curious on what he was doing one day so I did a small google search.
He’s studies physics at MIT and lectures prospective students on differential equations.
He’s still one of the smartest people I have ever met.”
4. Bonding.
“I wish my classmates knew that this quiet kid now visits me weekly at the restaurant I work for and orders his usual. He was the kid with a special instructor in each class, made fun of for it, among other things.
Now he is independent and works/lives on his own. We bond over anime and kingdom hearts, which I tend to play the music of over the loudspeakers at work when he comes by.”
5. A nice story.
“She was just shy because of her stutter.
She didn’t smell like they said she did and she was insanely smart.
She got married last Saturday and i was her MOH.”
6. Just fine.
“They’re not “up to something” just because they’re quiet.
And yes, they’re fine, so stop asking them if they’re ok or mad at you.”
7. A true friend.
“He was brilliant, ahead of his time, and the best friend I ever had. He was tormented for being so smart.
Our friendship was frowned upon because we were a boy and girl in 1956. He treated me like that didn’t matter.
When his family moved, I looked into their empty home and cried.”
8. Parents were the issue.
“He was nice enough but even more strange st home.
His parents were clearly the issue but he was very different and telling anyone what his home life was like would have been a curse.”
9. Still friends.
“I befriended a shy, hard-working, and really smart student named Elizabeth (Beth for short). After a year of hanging out and her coming over to my house, she finally invited me to hers.
I was stunned by what I saw.
She was absurdly rich and wealthy. Her house wasn’t a house at all, it was a mansion and she lived in the wealthiest part of town.
I was shocked and asked her why she was so quiet in school. She said, “I don’t want to be friends with people who only see me as a free bank card”.
We’re still friends to this day.”
10. I love dirty jokes!
“Once she got comfortable she was hilarious and had the most dirtiest minds with the most dirtiest jokes it was awesome.
I prefer quiet people they’re honest and up front and no bulls**t and they’re not trying to be anybody else but themselves.”
11. COOL.
“Honestly they’re sometimes the best people.
Doesn’t judge, has cool hobbies, don’t need to be forced to be “cool” around them.
Overall cool people”
12. Proud of him.
“He was sitting on a rock at school by himself, I said if I see him there again I’m gonna tell him he can’t, he’s gotta come hang out with us cause I didn’t want to see him by himself anymore. He didn’t have to talk to us if he didn’t want to. I wasn’t going to let him be a target to anyone.
He integrated into our group nicely and quick. We all joked that because he’s quiet he’ll murder someone mostly being me for making him be social and he ran with the joke, his social skills weren’t on par with the rest of us.
One day we both got to school early and we sat down where our group hung out together and he turned around and told me his dad went to jail the night before. His father had been belting his mother for a few years and I think it stunted a lot of his social skills.
We’ve been best mates for the past 15 years now. He’s often the life of the party when we all catch up! I’m very proud of him!”
Now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, tell us about your experiences with “the quiet kid.”
We look forward to it!
