Losing friends in middle and high school: a rite of passage?

My 20th high school reunion is this weekend and while it was an easy decision to not go I’ve been thinking a lot about that period in my life (side note: do not recommend, lol).

I’m wondering who here can relate to getting dumped, shunned, or ghosted by a friend in middle school and/or high school? I know it’s a relatively universal experience but I’ve been really in my head about it this last week.

When I was 12 I met this girl, S, who was sweet, funny, and befriended me easily. I had just moved to the area with my uncle, my mom was sick (cancer) and it was nice to do normal 12 year old things with her like talk about boys, makeup, and music. I was maybe a bit immature for my age and I think I embarrassed her sometimes and she slowly kind of phased me out. What really sent the message home was when she asked me in gym class if my pants were really adidas and asked to see the three stripes for proof 😹🙄 When my mom died a few months after I met her I honestly can’t remember if we were even still friends then or just on the rocks, but after she phased me out she pretended that I didn’t exist basically and it still kind of stings.

I’ve had this with other friends in middle and high school, they phase me out or suddenly act as if they don’t like me, I always chalked it up to not being cool enough for them and being shy, quiet, and a little dorky. I did have a good group of friends in high school and I’m still friends with them to this day, but I still think about these other girls.

Also, if you ever ended up ghosting or suddenly turning on a friend during these years what was the reason?

Thanks for listening ❤️