Bounce

There was a time in Kyla Steeves' life when she was a bully. Surprisingly, the quiet girl who sat in class was not so quiet on the playground. She discovered the power of having a clique, not knowing the cruelty which resulted because of one. However, at this time Kyla did not know what a clique was, she was part of what was considered a series of clubs. There was the monkey bar club, the tree club, the under the deck club, so many clubs and so many opportunities to leave other kids out. Kyla would like to blame her unfriendliness on her one friend who exerted so much power over her. However, there was no excuse for the way Kyla chose friends in elementary and how she stabbed others in the back. The turnaround point for Kyla occurred in the fifth grade when she became friends with the new girl. At this point, she realized that it was much cooler to just have friends rather than being associated with the “pleather jacket” club. Kyla thought the club days were behind her until she experienced a clique on a whole new level at camp. There was the Lethbridge E-Free clique who thought they owned the place. Outsiders called them the "perfect 10" because the clique consisted of the five prettiest girls and the five best looking boys at camp. If you were not from Lethbridge E-Free, you were a nobody in their eyes. Of course the members were always nice but it was in a fake way, so there was no way you could even try to connect with them. As a result, Kyla decided that she was fed up with cliques and never wanted to be a part of one. However, during her freshmen year at Providence, Kyla hung out with a certain group of friends for most of the first semester. They called themselves the "quadpod" because there was four of them. This name was not used to reinforce their clique but to mock the fact that they kind of were a clique. Unfortunately, Kyla spent half of the year with these three others and quickly realized all the other people she was missing out on. Therefore, the quadpod eventually dispersed. It was not that they quit being friends altogether, it was that they didn’t need each other anymore. Amazingly enough, they didn’t need to be with each other every minute of every day. Today, Kyla prides herself on not belonging to a certain group. She is content with the fact that she has friends but they are not a set group who needs to be with each other all the time. Kyla is a strong individual who does not have to rely on a group to make her feel secure. All in all, Kyla Steeves would much rather bounce from friend to friend than only hang out with a single group of friends.