We all know those kids. Hovering around the edges. Usually quiet. Everyone thinks they’re a little weird. They’re barely given a second glance.

That was me. For most of elementary school I had glasses, then braces. I spent pretty much all of my free time reading. I loved school except for, of course, P.E. I couldn’t do anything like the other kids. They would kick the ball. I would totally miss and trip in the process. They would catch the ball. It would go sailing straight through my hands. So I stuck to my books.

I also grew up in the same small group of friends. I never really branched out. I remained the same girl, hovering around the edges.

And so I went, from awkward stage to awkward stage. Until I was at the end of eighth grade year. Around that time, my parents dropped the big news on me. We were moving. To a DIFFERENT STATE.

We packed box, after box, after endless box. Then we loaded off the truck and headed off to Michigan.

And so I found myself forced out of my comfortable world where I’d been sheltered for years, and out into the strange, huge world.

Making new ffriends? It terrified me. Who would want to be ffriends with me? I was awkward. The nerd. Never wanted by the popular crowd. I felt so alone and exposed.

Loneliness is a terrible thing. It seems to eat at you: a dull ache inside. And there’s this deep longing for times passed when you weren’t alone.

People started to talk to me. Every little smile and word meant the world to me. But I felt like an intruder. Everyone else had their own group of ffriends. They didn’t need me. They were just being nice. At least thats what I convinced myself.

I went through each day lonely, but too scared to talk to people. Then there was cross country. Everyone was so nice. I quickly felt like I belonged. Like I had ffriends again. I looked forward to it everyday. After school I would have ffriends. People to laugh with. A team.

Here’s just a glimpse of our team. Picture us all huddled in a tent at a rainy meet. Bags and people strewn every which way. A few are even wearing shower caps. Because, of course, it’s homecoming that night, and we wouldn’t want our hair to get wet. You hear a few snatches of conversation:

“Someone pass me that pickle thing!”

“You mean the roller?”

“Susannah, are you eating a corn muffin?”

“Of course, cause she’s from Iowa.”

“And then T.J...”

“Wait, is that that bald kid?”

“Susannah likes bald men!”

I hope you get the idea.

I think that helped me to grow more confident throughout the year. I had found new ffriends. I began to believe people actually wanted to be ffriends with me.The weirdest thing is, it was sports that put me apart from other kids in the first place. But this time around, it was sports that connected me to other people. And here I am today, more confident than ever before.