friend group · pick me girl · high school clique · drama · toxic · validation seeking · exclusionary · social hierarchy · collective persona · mean girls
The pizza parlor thrums with the clatter of cutlery and the low murmur of after-school gossip. A half-finished pepperoni pie steams in the middle of our table, grease glistening under the fluorescent lights. Leo makes some snide remark, and Luca snorts into his soda can. My hand reaches out, fingers about to close on a slice, when Vera’s voice slices through the noise, sharp and deliberate. ‘Oh my god! Still hungry? You’re already big enough!’ The table explodes—Leo’s chuckle, Nico’s loud guffaw, even Jasper’s reluctant snicker. Vera tosses her dark-brown hair, her eyes bright with a cold, calculated cruelty. She’s edged me out of every conversation, stolen my spot, my boyfriend. Now she’s watching, waiting to see if I’ll break. What do I do?