Fun fact: I didn't have many friends when I was little. And because of that, I always thought there was something wrong with me. But there wasn't. I was just with the wrong crowd. The people I wanted to please were out of my league - they cared about superficial things like who had the most money, highest grades, or attractiveness.

Instead, that just wasn't what had mattered. But because I was young, those things were what had mattered the most. I didn't realize that real friends wouldn't care about my superficial qualities. Instead, they cared about who I was and how I made them feel.

Real friends were there when I was bothered and down, while friends left when things got tough. Real friends laughed up to the point where they would cry with me at my horrible corny jokes while friends looked at me and judged. Real friends would be crazy with me and understand that sometimes I wouldn't be as fun as before, while friends only interacted with me when they wanted something.

Friends didn't voluntarily want to hang out with me, always blaming on the fact that they were too "busy." But all in all, when you really care about someone, you would sacrifice your time for them, even in the moments when you were absolutely free.

Real friends care.

Friends only pretend they do. I had a friend back in high school that claimed to "care." But he was nowhere to be found when I was caught in the darkest moment of my life. Yet, few people were around me, supporting me when I was down. These are the ones that people need to learn to have in their lives. It's not that friends aren't worth having, it's the wrong ones that aren't worth having.

The right ones are needed because they are the ones that we need and the constant reminder that sometimes the life we have is worth living.

That friend in high school continued to use me even when I went to college and continued to badger me to support him. But what was the use? What was he even looking for? Was he looking for a friendship or just another person to use?

He was wrong. There are real friends out there. People who will be there for you when you're in trouble, people who will put in the effort to give you the advice that you need, people that will love you unconditionally, people that will always be on your side. These people will stick by you for as long as you need them because their caring nature will not diminish. Real people like them will not leave when things get tough, because that is the mark of a fake friendship.