Halls

Sometimes, when I am walking down the walls at school alone, I start to wonder who it is that actually cares about me.

It's not that I don't think that anyone cares. I know that people love me. I don't want anyone thinking that I am one of those foolish people who have friends and family, but, think that no one loves them.

I hum to myself or sing under my breath and pull my sleeves over my hands. I wonder who it is that would really want to walk with me. People I talk to all walk with other groups in the halls.

When it is spoken about, the consensus is that the place where cliques are illustrated best is in the cafeteria.

I respectfully disagree.

I think that cliques really come out in the halls. At lunch, tables are formed out of necessity and fear. Kids don't want to end up getting teased or taunted. They all just want to eat, so they find a group of people they can tolerate and talk to and they chew across from them.

In the halls, kids search each other out. They are like magnets, pulled to their friends lockers. They walk with each other, even if they are headed in opposite directions.

If you have no one to walk with you, a high school hallway can be a lonely place.