Sometimes I fell like an Alien among my peers

My mother is the most sociable human being I have ever known.  So it was a huge shock when I was extremely shy when I was little.  It took me awhile to work up the courage to say hi to someone else and make friends.  I have had the priviledge, however, to have grown up in a small town.  This way every year I knew most of the people in my classes and rarely ever had to put myself out there again.  I have had many friends- close friends, random friends, and even just accquaintices- but it wasn't untill the sixth grade when I realized how different the friendships were.  I started coming out more and being more outspoken, but at the same time there were girls who were my best friends in elementary that I felt I no longer fit in with them.  I was practically an only child because there was an eight year difference between my sister and I, so I was really introverted.  Sometimes people annoyed the daylights out of me so in most cases I wanted to be left alone or work alone.  Entering the sixth grade was extremely different, you now had many others who didn't go to the same elementary school and suddenly my closest friends were interested in what everyone else was doing and how they could copy them.  This was the first moment that I felt unfamiliar with them.  Their version of a good time now existed of getting dropped off at places-perferably the mall- and then getting picked up later.  My version of a good time was hanging out at someone's house just shooting the breeze or watching a scary movie.  My friendship with others started to change that day.  I lost many of whom I thought was my best friends and gained new ones who are still by my side today.  The next few years of adolescents made me feel worse about not belonging.  Others my age were more interested in gossiping and partying, while I chose not to follow that road.  When I refused to say something bad about a person, I was then made fun of for being a goody-two-shoes.  The hardest came when I was at the beach with a couple friends and they started passing around a joint and a can of beer.  I did not, nor do I, need to be high or drunk to have a good time.  So I left and lost people whom I considered my best friends.  Finally around the eleventh grade I stopped feeling this way.  Now don't get me wrong, there are a few moments still with my friends that I feel like I don't belong, but I now longer care.  I've embraced that I'm different.  I mean I would rather listen to foreigner than lady gaga anyday.  But I did realize to embrace being different than my peers, this is what's going to make me achieve my dreams, and stand out more.