Abigail Pribadi - The Bubblegum Gang

​​When I first joined my new school in Indonesia as a first grader, I was friendless and wanted to be 'popular'. There was this group of girls who had named themselves 'The Bubblegum Gang’, and would number each other. It started from Bubblegum #1, who was the leader of the group, and eventually ended with me, Bubblegum #7. I loved everything that was pink and glittery, and most of all, my precious Barbie doll collection. Yet, The Bubblegum Gang had differing opinions and hated all the girly things I was into. When the leader found out about my Barbie doll collection, she and the rest of the group forced me to cut all of the dolls' heads. I did as I was told because I wanted to fit in with them so that they would like me and keep me in the group. The leader eventually left the school and The Bubblegum Gang broke up almost immediately. We still bonded through Bubblegum #1 long after she left with something we all had in common: our shared hatred for her. We would talk about how rude and mean she was to us, and how stupid we were to do everything she told us to do just because we were to afraid to speak up and didn't want to risk getting kicked out of the gang. No one was happy being forced to do things they didn’t like or pretending to be someone they weren't, even if it meant being part of a big group of 'friends.'