Where Do I Fit? pt. 3

Delia was the kind of the kind of kid that no one understood. She was the definition of awkward. Whenever kids were in the hallway talking about their weekend or their vacation or what they did the night before, Delia would always make some weird comment that nobody seemed to know what to do with.

So, how was your break," was echoing all over the hallways on the day back from a snow-day extended winter holiday. Jeanie was the first to respond in her circle of four girls to the obvious question on everyone's mind.

"It sucked. I did nothing. I sat around every day and checked Instagram and watched TV. I went nowhere and did nothing. Totally sucked."

"Mine was awesome," it was Abbey's turn now. We went skiing Up North and my cousins came and stayed with us for like a week, from Minnesota. We always have the best time with them."

"What about you, Delia? What crazy things did you do on your break?" came the inevitable question from another girl, Melinda. Melinda was the unofficial leader of the group of friends. She was the one that all the girls looked to for what to do or say next, and what to wear. When Melinda made a suggestion for where to stand and talk, the typical response from the rest was a head nod or an "okay." If Melinda wanted to eat in the cafeteria on a particular day, then everybody just nodded their heads and went along. If she wanted to try and eat lunch somewhere else, then that's where the group wound up.

Melinda was short for a seventh grader, but looked the part at suburban Ames Middle School. Black stretch pants that were not too obviously yoga-ish, and tan Ugg boots with almost any top were her daily uniform of choice. The other girls knew that if they wanted to be friends with Melinda, they better get at the least the bottom part of the uniform right. All four girls had the same stretch pants from the same store at the Pinetrace Mall, and the same boots. Everything had to be purchased from  the same place, or it wasn't good enough for the group. Or at least not good enough for Melinda, who made the rules.