Honey-Drizzled Cranberry Brie Pastry Braid
I was an accidental jerk in fourth grade. I’m still totally embarrassed by it. It turns out even nice, otherwise well-intentioned kids can get caught up in accidental jerkiness.
See, fourth grade was the pinnacle of my popularity. I hadn’t grown into my shyness yet, so I was silly and outgoing. My friend group was comprised of all the blonde-haired girls in class. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was part of a clique.
Most of the time we were nice and inclusive. But sometimes we’d block kids out without even realizing what we were doing or why. For instance, one day I got the brilliant idea of creating a language. We’d talk in made-up words and no one would know what we were saying except other girls from our friend group. I pitched the idea to my friends: Wouldn’t it be so funny when the boys couldn’t tell what we were saying (not that they’d bother to stand around and listen)? Wouldn’t it be so funny when the teacher couldn’t understand our secrets? Wouldn’t it be so funny when Amanda couldn’t understand us?