I decided I was done with trying to be normal when a Christian student group, the dominant culture, at my high school started praying for the souls of some of my other friends because of how they dressed, the music they listened to, the questions they asked, and a whole boat-load of rumors, innuendos, gossip and imaginary debauchery. My friends with weird hair, dark clothes, punk music and artistic vision were more honest with me about what I was truly going through than the Christian student group. But because that student group felt normal, safe and the epitome of the kind of life I was supposed to want to live, it meant that I had to be committed to not caring what they thought about me. The truth was evident to me that my “alternative” and “different” friends were better for my soul because they just wanted what was honest, authentic, transparent and real in their lives. The Christian student group really seemed bent on conformity of thinking, dressing, music choices, relationships and life. So when my friends’ names were mentioned judgmentally during a prayer, I just walked out.