The 9-year-old girl handed her mother a grubby piece of paper and ran away before she could be questioned. The contents made the adult aware of the pain of rejection her little girl was going through.

Diana had written down her innermost feelings in a cathartic attempt to assuage her hurt about her so-called best friends Samantha and Anita. They seemed to have turned against her for no apparent reason.

The introspective piece contained her reactions to the rejection and yet her astute mind had somehow cottoned on to the fact that everything had been going so well until Anita joined the twosome.

Samantha and Diana had been good enough to befriend her but, with the passage of time, she had somehow become friendlier with Samantha than Diana herself.

Soon Diana realised she was slowly being pushed aside as the two formed an impenetrable nucleus. Anita and Samantha now had secrets they didn't share with her.

There were little signs which she had picked up which made her feel an unwelcome third.

What made her so indignant was that Samantha had been her best friend first. In the note she hoped for divine intervention to help solve this crisis.

I was given this to read for my thoughts on the matter. As I finished reading the outpouring of such heartfelt emotions, it all came back to me ...

The friendships that begin in school. The initial feelings of loneliness and being excluded from the tight knot of friends as one joins a new school.

What has always made any child apprehensive about a new school is the daunting task of having to make new friends, being accepted by one's peers. This is very important to a child who will do anything to achieve this ideal.

A smile, a kind word, the loan of notes can make for instant friendship acts which stay with you long after the friendship may have run out of steam and for which you will always be grateful.

Perhaps the most testing time is that first break or interval when children form into little groups as naturally as birds flying in formation.

New student

The new student sticks out like a sore thumb. She watches them at play or the girls huddled together whispering secrets or exchanging confidences and the pang of envy is palpable.

Though she may long to approach these sisterhoods, she knows it is a move fraught with danger. If she were to be brazen enough to go up and introduce herself or, even worse, ask if she may join them, there could be humiliation in store for her.

She has known the pindrop silence after making such an overture followed by a continuation of the conversation or game as if she hadn't spoken.

Or she could be told that the game has already started and they have the right numbers already.

Most of us have gone through the experience of being the newcomer, the outsider looking longingly at those inside, hoping to be allowed admittance and willing to do almost anything to be one of them.

One may mask one's feelings of rejection with an air of bravado, by saying I don't really need them. But that's just the point. All of us need the reassurance of being just like the others, one of the herd.

Reading the note brought back a rush of memories and I could immediately empathise with Diana.

Soon after she walked into the room and was greeted by a brilliant smile and a compliment by her mother's friend.

She looked surprised at this rather strong reaction but perhaps it made her feel a little better about herself. I sincerely hope so.