Memoirs of an Outstanding* Teen

Chapter 41: Part of a Clique

I think most countries have different versions of this. At my school, we called it the LRC, the Learners' Representative Council, or more commonly, the prefects. It's basically the people who would yell at you to be quiet during assembly, to walk in a line, tuck in your shirt, and all that. They would also do fun stuff like arranging school dances, petitioning for no-uniform days, or organizing grade-8 concerts (remember?).

So, every year, the grade-11s would get to sign up on the prefect candidates list for a chance to be voted LRC by the rest of the school. It was one of those things where I was like, "It wouldn't be the end of the world if I don't get it, so what's the harm in trying?" And 70% of the Grade 11s signed up too so there was quite a lot of peer pressure to do it. I got a sign-up form, collected all the necessary signatures, and became a prefect candidate.

I wasn't very popular in high school ( Cue Drake singing, "They know, they know, they know"). I didn't expect to win this one. The prefects were usually in 700 different sports and culture clubs, on top of being friends with the entire school. But, I guess they had seen my name on the Top Ten List or something. Maybe they heard my name whispered around among the teachers. I don't know, maybe they saw me walking up to the stage to accept an award or two. But somehow, when the principal read out the elected prefect names, on the Monday morning after voting week, my name was on the list too. I was prefect!

Walking up to that stage, I felt a new, rare feeling. Whatever feeling people get when they're welcomed into a respected clique, that's what I felt. It was a mixture of gratitude, honor, and genuine happiness. I imagine it's the same feeling people feel when they asked to join some secret society, the CIA, FBI, or something. Or maybe it's just the feeling college kids get when they make it into the fraternities and sororities. I had finally achieved something in the world of popularity and social life. Lonely girl next door was finally part of a group!