Real Friends

This section of the book shows some of the hardest times in Shannon’s young life. She starts Setting Personal Boundaries by choosing to leave The Group. This is a big step in the right direction, even if it does not seem like it to Shannon at the time. Though Jenny no longer has many opportunities to bully her, Shannon enters a period of profound isolation and no longer feels as though she has any friends at all. Having no real support at home only intensifies her loneliness. Though she and Wendy do not have any big fights in this section of the book, their relationship has not progressed positively, either. Wendy’s only appearance in this section of the book is when she briefly hangs out with another girl. She is desperate for the other girl’s approval, which reflects her lack of experience having firm friendships.

The fact that Shannon is able to leave The Group demonstrates her Coming of Age and Gaining Confidence, even though she becomes very lonely as a result. She is finally confident enough to stand her ground against Jenny instead of crying in the bushes. When she meets Zara and Veronica, Shannon sees a new way of being popular without being mean. This revelation helps her better understand a potential way forward in her own friendships. Until this point, Shannon has felt on some level that popularity is an important part of securing friendships. However, she can now see that being nice to people, even if they are strangers, is a good way to create a better future for herself and those around her. Zara and Veronica are not only potential friends; they are role models, which is something Shannon has not really had prior to this point.

After her period of isolation, Shannon starts Forming Genuine Friendships with Zara and Veronica. For a long time, she feared leaving The Group because she did not realize that it would be possible for her to make any other friends. Zara and Veronica prove that her assumptions were wrong: There are other kind people out there, and they help her have a more positive experience than she had with The Group. Though she has not known them for long, Zara and Veronica might be Shannon’s most genuine friends yet. They are more mature than the members of The Group, and they do not get caught up in petty drama or lies. Although they are a year older than Shannon, they are still willing to play pretend games with her. 

Shannon does not become close friends with Kayla, but Zara and Veronica do help her take steps to get a little closer to her. By breaking her personal rule and calling Kayla’s friends rude names, Shannon is able to extend her sympathy and help them both feel less alone. By the end of this section, Shannon is close with Zara and Veronica, sees the possibility of friendship with Kayla, and still has Adrienne, even though they are no longer in school together. Things are looking up for Shannon after she has spent a long time feeling either misunderstood or entirely alone.

One of the reasons why Shannon has struggled to develop genuine friendships in the past is because she has difficulty collaborating on creative projects. Amy and Nicole do not want to write stories with her because she immediately dismisses their ideas in favor of her own. The adult Shannon Hale, who is narrating the book, can see this dynamic clearly, but she was not able to see it when she was a child. The challenge of maintaining strong friendships is one of the factors in Shannon’s ongoing anxiety. The doctor that she speaks to tells her to simply stop worrying. This advice is often given to people who experience anxiety disorders, but it is unhelpful. People, especially young people, are often unable to stop worrying about things unless their worries are somehow resolved. Shannon is anxious because many events in her life cause her pain, and she does not have anyone to help her mitigate that pain.