For middle school, I transferred to a new school and found the whole experience jarring. Gone was the small classroom with friends I’d had since kindergarten. My new school seemed huge, with changing classrooms and teachers every hour, and strangers all around. Middle School Cliques is my impression of those first weeks, with the world around me so gray and frightening. Even the kids seemed alien as they clustered into cliques by some unknown method. The popular kids seemed so colorful to me, preening for the other students who watched enviously.
