Geeks and Gamers and Goths! Oh my!

Jocks, Populars, and Nerds

Geeks, Gleeks, and Drama royalty

Stoners, Loners, Bullies, Posers

Gamers, Artists, Preps

Emos, Outcasts, and Mean girls

Band Geeks, Dorks, Skaters, and Punks

Hippies, Moshers

Goths, Dudes, 

Surfers, Plastics, and the ever elusive…

Normals

Ah, the tribes of the High School Jungle.

I remember them well.

I also remember how my placement among them was assigned early…

First grade early.

You see, one day I was over at my best friend’s house. The school year had just begun, so we were talking about our teachers and class projects. That’s when my friend’s sixth grade brother strolled in, overheard our conversation, and spat,

“I hate school.”

To this day I remember that moment…

How my eyes felt like they were going to take leave of my face.

The sound of the gasp that escaped my lips.

The shaking of my cranium —

Holy cow, how could anyone hate school???

Seriously.

I could not get my head around this concept.

I wanted to shout, “What is WRONG with you? How could you possibly find a single thing that’s not totally AWESOME about school???”

I LOVED school.

Heck, I thought there should be school on weekends, holidays, and all summer long.

And I didn't give a rip about those Sunday tales of Heaven’s streets being paved with gold…

I just wanted to make sure that every single one of them led straight to the library.

But I didn't say any of this. I just sort of sat there like a sputtering fish.

The sixth grader simply looked in my direction, raised an eyebrow as if he could read every thought, and shook his head.

Then, long before our subjects and tribes were divided, back when we still played hopscotch and foursquare, my lot was cast by this too cool for school sixth grader…

“Nerd.”

Was all he said.

So, I went home and read a book.

Then spent the next 22 years too school for cool…

and rockin’ the mandatory eyewear.

PROMPT: What’s your tribe — its rituals, its legends? Ah, such fertile ground for creative exploration!  And if you’re even thinking of dabbling in Y.A. fiction, you need to know the lay of the high school land and all its inhabitants. Pick up The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins for a quick refresher course.