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Before the first day of eighth grade,

I got An Outfit:

Green and yellow striped shirt,

Yellow shorts, and

a nice leather belt.

On the first day of school,

I wore it.

 

Walking into science class,

I saw Kelly:

a volleyball player,

not quite one of the popular crowd,

but right on the cusp,

and miles away from where I stood, socially.

 

Kelly had gotten An Outfit:

Green and yellow striped shirt,

Yellow shorts, and

a nice leather belt.

On the first day of school,

She wore it.

 

Decades later I realized

how much worse it must have been

for Kelly

and her precarious position.