I. . . allowed my memory to journey back to the days when I was a boy of ten, full of health and optimism, when my wonder at the great game of living had yet to give way to disillusionment at its shabbiness.
High school is a really strange time - you're not a kid, you're not an adult. You're about to be an adult, you're going to have to make some really intense decisions. It's a really pivotal time to have as much self-confidence as you possibly can. Even if that means you have one friend who supports you completely.