ou can't call a friend a friend if they say you're careless and clumsy or odd and weird.

Or if your hair or skin is the colour they don't like.

If they pass rumours onto others about you then a baseball game in your mind has hit the first strike.

They might boss you around in a game if you're younger or say they can have their own way if you're older.

There goes the second strike.

Is your friend a friend you want to cherish?
Or would you prefer a different friend?

You've the right to say to them to play with someone else and play with them another day.

But they say you have to play. "Or else," they say.

There goes the third strike but you have not lost.

But you're not sure if you call your friend a friend.

Go ahead. You've the right to make new friends so wait a year or two or do it now.