My daughter put on a movie this afternoon and of course the previews for other movies available came on…
One of them was Bring it On, it was released in 2000, a “teen comedy film” about a cheerleading squad.
It brought memories flooding back to my junior high school days.
It started even before junior high in 6th grade.
Carmen and Marlena the meanest girls in school.
I had a boyfriend in grade 6 Clint. 😀 Carmen and Marlena didn’t like that. In their eyes I was becoming popular. I was a fantastic runner and played soccer like a pro 😀 and a boy actually liked me, I was kind and a good friend to others and I had friends, not many but I had them. 😀
These two girls were snobby, mean and not well liked and they were bullies. I played soccer with the boys and a couple of other girls, Marlena had a crush on one of the guys and didn’t like the fact that we were friends. Both Jim and were goalies and often talked about how we could improve, we both played soccer outside of school, Jim had been a goalie longer than I had and would often teach me different things he’d learned. One day after school, the duo were able to rally enough people together to follow me home while yelling and threatening me, let me just say I had never been so scared in my life, not to mention hurt. Their “power” was incredible.. to get a small mob of kids together to follow me around while I was alone…???!!
They both warned me in the school yard near the end of school that I would have a bad reputation at high school because I had a boyfriend and that I hung out with the boys, I worried about it all summer long. I didn’t want a bad reputation, heck I didn’t even know what that was….Clint and I just hung out together, and the guys were my friends, other girls were with us too, I didn’t understand.
In high school I broke school records for running. My grades were ok and I had friends. Not popular by any means but I was ok.
I really wanted to be on the cheerleading squad. There were a couple of nasty girls on the team, guess who?.. Carmen and Marlena. I will never forget these two miserable girls who made my junior high years almost unbearable. The cheerleading team had already been formed, but I asked the Phys Ed teacher, Mrs. Wauldhauser if I could join……I can’t remember exactly all the details but I do remember Carmen and Marlena saying that if I was allowed to try out for the squad that they would quit, they were able to get the other girls to go along with it, including the teacher!!! I never got a chance to try out and of course never became a cheerleader.
And there were the whispers behind hands and lockers…and glaring looks.
I wish I could meet up with those two miserable girls again… Actually on second thought nah, not worth my time or energy.
Even as I type this, tears are coming to my eyes, those two girls caused so much hurt and took so much away from me and made my high school years just awful.
It’s amazing how one or two people can change your destiny and your dreams….Secondary school was nearly non-existent for me, I went to alternative schools, one was called AISP, Alternative Independent Study School, for kids who didn’t fit into the “mainstream” education system, they didn’t have a cheerleading squad or a track team, it was a school that had a variety of students, rock star wanna bes ,artists , computer geeks and athletes like Carling Bassett a young professional tennis player, and there were kids like me who just didn’t fit. Thanks to the Marlenas and Carmens of the world. in my case.
I do have a pretty amazing life, with 4 healthy children, an incredibly crazy and supportive family, great friends and of course,
this blog 😀 😀
So I guess without some of these things happening when I was younger, it would not have made me the strong, independent, tolerant, open-minded and caring person I am, I would not have had the experiences that I did, that helped mold me into who I am, and it would not have made me set the bar higher to be a better person and never ever to be like you…rah, rah, rah!
So there Carmen and Marlena………I win!!
To be fair to these two, I have no idea what their home life was like so maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh…..
Your words have power, use them wisely.
Angies Grapevine 