The popular girls grew up and moved away. By the time Jane moved back home to raise her kids there was almost no one left that she had grown up with. She had forgotten how hard it was to meet people and make friends. She finally got to know some other moms when her son started pre-school and sitting in her living room while their kids played outside realized that all the other moms in the class had started a Facebook group to share when things were happening and schedule get togethers.
Jane felt the feeling in her gut that she remembered from high school. When she was always just on the outside. That even though she thought that she was saying the right things and smiling at the right times she was never welcomed into the inner circle. All the effort she had put in to making connections, all the hope she had held out looking for a group of friends who she could share a glass of wine with solidified into a black rock inside her core. She found herself calling for her son and making an excuse for needing to leave early. As she pulled away from the house she vowed that she would never again seek out relationships from women. She would have to be enough for herself. Pulling herself inward the closer she got to home.
