MEMOIR
What My Middle School Bodyguard Taught Me About Bravery
Coming of age in the 1980s
When I was a girl of eleven, I was what adults might deem with a laugh as oh, she’s going through an awkward stage.
When I was a girl of eleven, I was what other kids might deem with a laugh as different and weird.
I had some friends, notably Stephanie, whom I first explored stuffing bras with. We had adventures like rollerskating, meeting our lovely nursing home friend Lottie Carter, and watching the first music video ever played on MTV. She was my best friend, but she was a year younger and wasn’t around when the other kids did these things.
The worst thing of all was when the emotional bullying came from my old friends. That hurt the most. One year away in a new school, a set of newly-divorced parents, and a new pair of ugly-ass glasses was all it took for me to be demoted from the popular girl to Judy Blume’s Blubber.
But I was always me on the inside. So I didn’t get it. How had I fallen so far on the food chain? What did I do?
It started the day I passed Gennifer and Willa in the hallway on my way to class. They were sitting interlocked on the floor outside Ms. Perry’s room. They wore funny socks with their pants rolled up — and I smiled…
