I will never forget the best compliment I ever received, especially because it came from someone unexpected. I’ve held onto it for almost ten years now. I screenshot it, snipped it, saved it to every photo gallery I’ve ever had so that when I need it… I can pull it up on a rainy day.

And believe me, I’ve pulled it up more times than I can count. I went to high school with this girl, middle school too. Not all of elementary school, but enough shared moments that I never thought anyone was paying attention to. The whole time, I always put this girl, Anna, in a class above me. I mean, she was charismatic, funny, and everyone loved her. She was popular and unapologetically herself in a way that kids/teens weren’t being.

Anna was this bright spark in a social class I never belonged to—and never really wanted to. Back then, the only thing I was focused on was getting through it. I knew I was smart. I didn’t care what other kids thought of me. I saw a lot of high school as a waste of time. I was stuck in a grade with kids two to three years older than me. I had skipped so many courses that I was already halfway through my college pre-reqs while still stuck in the public school system by circumstance. They said I was too young to graduate. I didn’t have the right people backing me up in my corner. I didn’t have any adults pushing to move me forward, and so I ended up stuck in this strange in-between period.

I had to stay, but I was bored out of my mind every single day. There was nothing for me to learn. I had already completed most of the core classes and was filling my days with electives like ceramics and teacher’s assistant. I kept to the outside, spending my time reading books while other kids soaked up every social dance and theme high school had to offer.

On top of being bored out of my mind, I didn’t connect with other kids my age. I was dealing with a ton of real-life adult problems. Very “13 Going on 30” in a very sad and traumatic kind of way that I learned to laugh off. I hid all those facts about me. I went to school each day, throwing this plastic smile on my face and hiding all the marks of life. I got good grades with little to no effort and just buried my head into books. I sat at lunch tables surrounded by people, but couldn’t have been more alone — and honestly, that was by choice.

I had one class with Anna in high school, just one. We had choir together and sat on opposite ends of the risers. Anna was always surrounded by a tight-knit group of what appeared to be close friends. She was always well-liked by the masses, but she always had this close group of 3/4 other kids. She was friendly, so of course I knew her name. I knew who she was. In middle school, we had more classes together, but I can’t remember a time when we ever moved past classmates.

There was this one incident in high school when my boyfriend had cheated on me. Everyone in choir kept asking me where he was, and this was the day after I found out what happened. I was in this crazy emotional headspace, and my eyes must have watered, or a tear fell, because Anna noticed. She pulled me into the back practice room and didn’t ask what happened. She just separated me, made it look normal, and let me cry. It slipped out in the chaos of tears behind that closed door with a near stranger.

Anna didn’t ask for details. She didn’t pry or say any comforting words that everyone feels socially obligated to say. She just manned the door so I could get it out. Then we walked out like nothing had happened, and no one said a word about it. I never considered that a “girl bonding” or “bff in the making” moment. It was this small moment that ended just as fast as it started. I never thought much of it after that school year ended and graduation came.

The compliment came well after we graduated. We were Facebook friends, and she had made this post. Something along the lines of, “Leave a like, and I’ll comment the one thing I remember most about you.” One of those cheesy things we all used to do back in the golden age, when social media was still young. I can’t remember what led me to like it, but I did.

What she wrote was far longer than any of the other comments she had left, and it stuck with me. I remember reading it and getting so lost in the words that I had to read it again just to feel it. I thought, how could someone so far on the outside feel this way about me? How could Anna, someone with whom I really just existed with in this horrible time in my life, see me? This way?

You don’t think about moments like that. People you crossed paths with on the way to whoever you eventually became. Those little moments, the tiny chapters of background characters or NPCs. They say to be kind because you never know what someone else is going through. You never know what small act of kindness can make an impact on someone else. I’m not usually the type to spew those kinds of coffee mug slogans. In fact, I am more of a “fuck around and find out” kind of slogan. That “put on some gangsta rap and handle it” type of slogan.

A role model. Anna thought I was a role model. That I knew things and had some calm head on my shoulders. I emitted some type of energy that she wanted to be around…that. Anna thought I made her smile, that I had potential. I can’t remember ever making her smile. I don’t remember saying anything wise or doing anything worthy of the word role model. At that point in my life, I was just trying to survive each day and keep my head above water. That one post might have seemed cliché at the time—honestly, it still does today— but that post was the biggest compliment anyone has ever given me.

Which makes me wonder — how many moments have we all left behind in someone else’s story without ever realizing it?

What’s the one compliment someone gave you that stuck with you all these years?