So I was in choir the other day with one of my students. It's an integrated class, but he's the only student from Life Skills who was interested in joining choir, so it was just him, me and the rest of the class. This day was special because they had just won a competition and had decided to celebrate by having a party at lunch, so everyone had brought something to share.

Cue the rail thin, pretty, long haired, outgoing girl to come twenty minutes late and burst through the door practically yelling, "Is there any food left?" Empty handed, of course.

And, of course, everyone falls over themselves getting her a bit of this and a bit of that. And they all tell her to try the tarts that Sebastian brought because they're really good.

"Who's Sebastian?" She asks. She's been in this choir since September and she doesn't know who Sebastian is.

And the thing is, he's the sweetest, kindest, most gentle grade nine boy. His mom baked tarts for him to bring to his choir party. He's shy, but he still made sure to offer me, an outsider, some of what he brought with him. At 15, he's already a phenomenal pianist and regularly accompanies the choir, and he's still a little bit pudgy, and sweet faced.

"Who's Sebastian?" and everyone laughs at this witty query and points him out and congratulate each other for being of help to Miss Popularity.

And Sebastian kindly offers her a tart, which she smells before accepting.

The thing is, I'd love to say it gets better. Life isn't always like it is in grade nine, but in this case I can't. I've never liked girls whose popularity is based on making other people feel small, and there are so many of them out there. Girls like that will always be around, at fifteen, at twenty, at thirty-five. And people will continue to want to be around them, be with them, be like them.

And I hope that Sebastian, even if he is only fifteen, can see through it. I hope he knows that there are girls out there who are as decent and kind as he is, even if they don't wear size zero and spend two hours getting ready in the mornings.

It's nice to think so, anyway.