I spoke from my estate, which was different to their estate. Like some kind of comedy episode, the small group fell silent, and all eyes turned to me. Nobody spoke, but they didn’t need to. Their faces screamed “What on earth is she doing, talking like that?”

It took a while for me to grasp the situation before I fully realised what had happened. In spending time with all the new people I had met at school, I had been unconsciously mirroring them, and this clique had begun to include me, because they thought I sounded like them. A momentary slip on my part had revealed the truth, however. I had revealed myself and, as a result, they no longer thought I belonged with them. Having unknowingly presented myself as someone familiar to them, they were now rejecting me at the first glimpse of my...

Please subscribe to keep reading.