STRICTLY TWEENS
School
Struggles
I feel as though that I am sleep walking throughout my life. Or, at
least, for the few years of my life now. I look down at the speckled
floors as I walk to lunch, with kids speeding past me and laughing,
while thinking to myself about how alone I feel. This whole school
is based on who is dating who and who is the most undateable.
Are you kidding me? Is this what we are going to base our lives
around, the people who dress nice but talk crap behind you? I
honestly hate it. I hate the small talk with people who forget your
name once you walk away and the nervous laughter that comes
from my lips to try to blend in. I hate trying to blend in. It’s so
pointless. As I think about traveling and exploring new countries
and my life ten years from now, people around are worried about
who’s going shopping this weekend. Sure, I like to have fun and
laugh with the crowd. But sometimes that laughter fades, and I
wish I could be anywhere else. Anywhere but here. I wish I could
click my ruby shoes and vanish into thin air, and to end up living
my life somewhere where I could laugh because I want to, not be-
cause I feel pressured to do so. Where I could have conversations
about love, heartbreak, and the evolution of humans and god and
religion and things that seem too sad or depressing or deep for my
age and the people around me.
Maddie, 12
40
March 2017