friends in malory towers

[charmstar]

At my (boarding) school there were eight of us in our particular year at our boarding house and during the five years there we were always more like a team rather than pairing off into 'best friends'. It always worked for us and as we all came from different parts of the UK it made holidays easier because you didn't miss one particular person. Unlike the MT/SC girls we never had Studies in the final year either, just a great common room so again we weren't put in a position of being paired up and even when we made trips into town we tended to go in a group rather than in pairs or whatever. I think if anything that strengthened us as people because we were all very different and so we learned quickly how to get along and respect each other as individuals.

[Chloe]

I was reading this thread in interest. I belong to a group of 10 girls who have all known each other since school (we are 29) Although we see ourselves as one group of best friends we all have a best friend within the group although it is often unspoken. I think Blyton was very observant of friends in her school stories. There was usually an alpha group, a brain, a wild child, someone who wasnt as well liked as there are in all schools I have ever been to.

[auscatherine]

I went to a girls school (not a boarding school though) and remember the friendships and pairings being very intense amongst my classmates. I am actually still very close friends with my old Best Friend from those days. Now that my own daughter is in upper primary school, I notice the same thing starting to happen with the girls in her class. It is much more a matter of concern for them that what any of the boys are doing, eg, one girl apparently sobbed for two days because of who she was paired with to sit next to on the bus for their 3 day school camp next month.

[hope189]

I have a best friend and I belong to a group consisting of 4 girls, i.e 2 pairs of best friends. But we don't act like a clique or anything and we are good friends with most of the others.
In MT, we can see that each girl had a best friend but at the same time there was no enimity and they were all friends with each other.

I just feel that people move on, and it isn't always wise to go back. Before you know it, you are involved with someone that, however friendly you were 40 years ago, might have changed enormously, and you then can't detach themselves.

I feel the same too. People can change a lot even in a couple of years. I cahnged schools in 5th grade. Last year, I met my old best friend and we both felt really really awkward and I didn't know what to say to her. We didn't talk but just chatted about school and other stuff, if you know what I mean.

[Philip Mannering]

I do have a best friend, and I do have a group, but I always feel a little uncomfortable around crowds of friends. I prefer a small group.

Sometimes I think it's better to meet with acquaintance rather than friends. For if we have a friends and haven't seen them for long, things can be restrained. But with acquaintance, there is no fear of that - all exchange of news.