Family I thought back on my family. As I did, I remembered something that had happened to me just a few months before. I had come home from school really upset. My mom asked me what was wrong. I told her I’d been sitting at a table with my friends, and this popular girl came up and said, “I’m having a party this weekend and all of you are invited.” We were all excited. This was a pretty big deal. To be invited to a party with the popular crowd. That’s the top of the mountain to a junior-high girl. But then she turned to me. “Except you,” she said. “You’re not invited to my party.” My friends didn’t even seem to notice. I felt so bad. I was embarrassed and hurt. After I told my mom what had happened, she tried to make me feel better. “It won’t be that bad spending another weekend at home,” she said. That didn’t help much. “You can spend some more time with your family.” No help at all. My mom kind of smiled. “You know that ‘popular’ is just another word for rude.”
