The Clique

When my homegurl climbs into the car after school, our conversations go like this:

"Who did you hang out with today?"
"Um...Bailey, Elle, and all those girls."
"Any boys?  Like, did you kiss a boy and like it?" I teasingly ask.
"Ewww, Mom! I'm not like that.  Besides,  I don't even have a crush on ANYONE."
"Guess what, Mom?
"What?"
"Maddie quit the B.D.C..."
"What?"  I say in complete horror.

If you're not already aware, the B.D.C is short for the Barbie Doll Crew, a self-titled group of girlfriends who attend Hannah's school.  Their clothes are cute; they're selectively nice to others; and they're totally exclusive.  Our conversation continues.

"Why did Maddie quit?"  I ask.
"She just wants to do her own thing; she gets tired of people easily.  You know, too much drama."
"Hmm..."
"Do you wish you could hang with the B.D.C?  Looks like there's an opening"  I say.
"No way.  We'd have nothing in common."
"What does that mean?"
"They're not like me, Mom."
"What does that mean, Hannah?"
"I don't know, Mom.  I'm done talking about this.
"Where's my Paradise cookie?  You brought me one, right, Mom?"

I've always been so interested in how peer groups form and what criteria determines whether or not a person will belong.  The "cool group" at my high school called themselves the Brat Pack.  Again, like the B.D.C., it was a group of cute girls who really didn't notice anything or anyone on the outside of their predefined group.  Now that I'm an old lady, I realize there wasn't anything going on in their world that wasn't already going on in my own.  But when I was Hannah's age, I was so curious about those girls, and I would go out of my way to talk to them one-on-one, just to see what their secrets were. Why did swarms of girls aspire to be that "cool?" I really wanted to know.

I hope Hannah bypasses the phase of caring about being a part of a supposedly cool girl clique.  Because, seriously, what. a. waste. of. time.  As I add new friends on facebook, who used to be my old friends, I always find myself telling Bryce, "I wish in high school I would have been less attracted to cool and more attracted to interesting.