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Jiu-Jitsu Girl

best at. At my last school, there were the sports kids, the theater
kids, the art kids, and even kids whose thing was anime.
Then there’s the other group.

The nothings.
The invisible kids who never get called on. The nice, quiet
kids who get stuck as buffers between the biggest buttheads in

each class to keep them from fighting, which means the poor
nothing kids stuck in the middle get a whole school year of
elbow jabs, stolen crayons, and silent stinky egg farts from the
buttheads on either side. The kids whose lunch bags get tossed to
the cafeteria floor when they get up to use the bathroom so one

of the popular kids can take their seat. The kids whose teachers
CAN. NEVER. REMEMBER. THEIR. NAME.
That was me. A nothing kid.

Even after a year in Ms. Holland’s fifth-grade classroom, she
still signed my yearbook, Have a great summer, Anna! J
Angie. My name is Angie.
So, of course, at my new school, Little River Middle, it’s
no different. There are the popular dance and soccer kids, the

somewhat noteworthy hang-with-their-own-crowd kids, and the
invisible kids. Normally, I’d blend right in as an invisible kid. But
this year, I have something different going for me.

New-kid status.
School just started a week ago. We’re in that sweet spot
where everyone’s past the freak-out of the first few days and
starting to look around and notice the new kids.
Right now, I can be anybody. Gone are the days of awkwardly

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