The Queen and Her Bee: Social Aggression in Female Friendship

Sample

Mia desperately smiled with her eyes at Nathaniel, willing his baby browns to connect with her own as he talked to her. What I wouldn’t give to—Nathaniel’s incessant chatter interrupted her daydreaming, “Just look at her. Not only is she gorgeous, but every girl in the bar wants to be her and every guy wants to be with her.” They both looked across the bar at Layla who was surrounded by a group of their guy and girl friends who were focused intently on her. “Do you think she likes me?” he asked. Mia rolled her eyes, “Oh please, what’s the huge fascination with Layla?” Nathaniel looked surprised, “Come on, you know Layla better than anyone. You are best friends. How can you even ask me that question?” Mia thought, I’m going to throw up if I have to spend another minute of my life talking about Layla. In sixth grade it was, “Do you think Layla is going to invite me to her birthday party?” Sophomore year it was, “What’s Layla wearing to homecoming?” Last week it was Dr. Rifken talking about how Layla is the perfect team leader for her Sudan awareness fundraiser, and now I have to listen to the hottest guy on campus plan their future together. People only like her because they don’t know how two-faced she is. “Whatever, Nathaniel, just make sure you wear a condom.” Whoops, I probably shouldn’t have said that.