Table of Contents
Introduction 5
1 Friendship 8
The Birthday No One Came To 11
"I'm Telling You as a Friend…" Meg DeAngelis 19
Be Yourself … or Felipe 25
Best Friend Tag with Monica Sherer Maddy Whitby 30
Best Friends: A Love Story Jenn McAllister 33
Friends Who Rap Together, Stay Together 39
Things You Can Only Do with Your Best Friend 43
The One Alex Aiono 45
2 Family 50
My Best Friend 53
What My Mom Would Want Ryon Abe 57
Fave Sibling Tag with Hunter March Dylan March 62
My Two Dads 65
The Little Sister Dani Cimorelli 69
Say You're Sorry Lauren Cimorelli 71
Stuck in the Middle Amy Cimorelli 73
Sisterly Advice Lisa Cimorelli 75
Sassy Is Not in My Nature Katherine Cimorelli 78
An Imperfect Role Model Christina Cimorelli 81
My Not-So-Sweet Sixteen 85
3 School 88
The Worst Thing I Did in School. According to Everyone. 91
Six Things I Loved About Middle School, 95
First Day of College: Expectation vs. Reality Vanessa Merrell 97
First Day Anxiety Veronica Merrell 103
Classes They Should Teach in High School But Don't 107
I'm Not Worthless Aija Mayrock 109
4 Love 114
The Art of Flirting 117
Beginner's Guide to Flirting with Emojis 122
What NOT to Do During Your First Kiss 125
When Hunter Met Sally Lex 129
What to Wear on a First Date Claudia Sulewski 134
When I Knew … 137
When I Knew … Lex Lee 139
Final Forever Aspyn Ovard 143
5 Heartbreak 148
Getting Cheated On 151
Instruction Manual for Getting over a Breakup 156
My Almost Relationship 159
Distractions from a Breakup 164
Love Yourself Lauren Elizabeth Luthringshausen 167
Ultimate Breakup Playlist 172
6 Hustles 174
First Job 177
The $64,000 Question 183
Becoming Awesome … ness 189
7 Insecurities 194
The Lion in the Mirror 197
Puberty Fails with Monica Sherer Maddy Whitby 203
Why I Don't Wear Short Shorts Andrew Lowe 209
My Armor Meghan Tonjes 217
8 Struggles 222
The Upside-Down Pantsing 225
Screw Adjectives Alexis G. Zall 231
Finding the Real Me Rickey Thompson 237
Cheap Booze and Old Lady Lipstick 243
Nothing Is the End Rebecca Black 249
Still Not the End 254
Acknowledgments 256