So I’m (17f) in a club with a boy named Max (16m). When I refer to “the club,” I’m just going to call it that, because saying the actual name would give away what school I go to.

Now, I’m autistic. I don’t know why, but I always have to be moving in some way—I can’t sit still. So I tend to rock back and forth a lot. It’s not intense, just a subtle rocking. I also have a tendency to be clingy, though I don’t mean to be.

Max and I used to be really close friends—well, not anymore. We would always hug, but it was always platonic. I have a girlfriend, and Max has a girlfriend named Riley (16f). Riley is a sweet girl, but she’s kind of weird with me. She switches between being really cold and distant to being super huggy, touchy, and saying, “I love you so much.” I never really questioned it.

I missed school for two weeks because I was in the hospital. When I came back, Max and Riley apparently didn’t realize I had returned. I overheard them talking about me. Max said, and I quote: "She is the funniest thing alive to just like watch. Just like, watch her interact with people—it’s funny. Like, I don’t even know why we let tism in the club." Then Riley said, "I hate her so much. I hate the way she rocks back and forth. I hate that she gets away with stuff that we don’t." And then they started rocking back and forth to mock me.

I walked by and heard everything. They saw me, too. I avoided them for the next three days, but today we had a field trip.

I was standing and talking with a mutual friend when Max walked up to me. Before he could even say anything, I looked at him and said, “I know what you said.”

His eyes got really wide, and he said, “It wasn’t about you, Mary.” I replied, “Then who was it about? Because ‘I don’t even know why we let tism in the club’ sure sounds like it was about the only autistic person in the club.” Max looked at me and said, “Mary, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t think you’d hear it. I didn’t think you’d be back yet.”

This was happening in front of at least 30 people. I said, “You know what you said, and you know it was wrong. I just want to know why.”

Max replied, “Are you mad at me? Please don’t be mad. Riley started talking about you, so I joined in. It wasn’t personal. Please don’t be mad.”

I said, “No—I am mad. In fact, I’m pissed. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t be mad.”

He started yelling. I said, “Don’t yell at me.” His friends had to carry him away to calm him down. Riley saw me look at her and just ran off.

I later talked to some people, and it turns out Riley had been talking badly about me for a while. Apparently, most of the comments came from her. She thinks I’m trying to steal her boyfriend—even though I’ve got a girlfriend. It was mostly Riley and not Max but I took it out on the max.