A Letter To 12-Year-Old Me

Me at 12 years old. Holla! 

Dear 12-year-old Billie [& all middle school girls everywhere],

Hey girl. I know that this year in school feels like slow torture, but you are gonna get through it. 12 is a tough age, and in fact, I haven’t met a harder year since. I wanted to drop you a line because you need to know that things get a heck of a lot better after this year....

First of all, you are about to switch schools and those douche bags on your school bus will be a thing of the past. And I know they threw your first novel out the window, and that you cried about it for what seemed like a million years, but don’t worry, you’ll write way better stuff. If anything, consider them throwing that thing out the window a blessing in disguise because when you become a professional writer, people will say and do far worse because of your work, but you’ll handle it like a champ.

I know you don’t think you are popular right now, but the funny thing is, since you are generally nice to people (leave go your rotten year, which is coming up), they will remember you fondly later in life. It’ll be a shock, so try to hide your surprise if you can. Just like mama told you, popularity in high school isn’t really an indication of how popular you will be in life. So dig in, middle school is short but life is long.

Now let’s talk boys...because I know that it’s complicated right now. You will have some steady boyfriends in high school and it’ll be a ton of fun. You are going to learn a lot and you will think that you want to marry each and every one of them, but you don’t. Turns out all the time you spent obsessing in your room over Paul McCartney this year will pay off because when you meet your husband, you will think he looks just like Paul--he even has a mop top when you first meet him. Not kidding.

Also, when you get into high school you are going to discover this thing called a hair straightener, and it will change your life. I wish I could tell you that your obsession with being a redhead will end, but it will follow you well into your twenties. However, you will get a bonafide redheaded moment and after that, you will feel happy bring a brunette. You also have a lot of great haircuts in your future, so this weird frizzy hair thing will be forgotten in no time.

One more thing: try your very, very best not to be judgmental because you never know who is going to be important to you later in life. People change and grow in the most unexpected ways. Life has a way of being circular and coming around on you when you least expect it--and this goes for both the good and the bad.

Enjoy middle school for what it’s worth, which is mostly a few good stories of mild humiliation that you can tell your friends in solidarity someday when you are older, wiser, and much, much less awkward.

      Love,