We walk into the buzzing cafeteria and go to our usual table, which is already thick in discussion. It’s par for the course when you get enough Gleasons together. There’s always plenty of talking and teasing.

“Anybody else almost smash their computer against the wall filling out college applications?” Julia asks.

The replies range from groans to throwing a napkin at Julia’s face. Glad it’s not only me.

Jan steals a potato chip from her sister. “Like you have anything to worry about, Miss Head of Every Committee.”

“Oh, okay, Miss Guaranteed to Get an Athletic Scholarship. And stop stealing my food. You could’ve packed chips yourself.” Julia pulls her bag of chips protectively to her chest.

“And I’ll tell Mom you’re not sharing,” Jan threatens.

Julia grimaces as she holds out her bag.

While they act like twins, and look similar with that thick, curly Gleason hair, Julia and Jan are thirteen months apart. Their parents decided to have them be in the same grade, since they were allegedly inseparable as kids. While still extremely close, they couldn’t be more different. Julia’s president of Student Council, Key Club, and Future Farmers of America, and vice president of the senior class. She’s perpetually outfitted in a cardigan and ballet flats, even in the dead of winter. Jan, on the other hand, is one of the best athletes in school and only wears yoga pants and fleeces and puts her hair in a tight ponytail with numerous bobby pins to tame it. They are two of the four Gleason cousins Marian has in our grade.

Neil (aka the Harry), the “red sheep” of the family with his dad’s ginger hair, also sits with us. Lee hangs out with her own friends, as she has fought against being defined by her family her entire life.

Dad isn’t really kidding when he refers to the Gleasons as the royal family. As one enters Valley Falls, they’re greeted by Gleason’s Garage, which is owned by Marian’s dad, who also happens to be the town mayor. Five blocks down Main Street is Gleason’s Grocer (run by Marian’s uncle Peter and her grandfather), which is the heart of the small downtown district.

“We need to get on this family’s good side,” Dad had joked as we first entered town all those years ago. And that was before we realized that Marian’s mom is the elementary school principal, her uncle Brian is the sheriff, her aunt Karen is the city comptroller, and her grandmother is editor in chief of the community newspaper.

You can’t walk more than a block without running into a Gleason. Marian took me under her wing on my first day of fifth grade. She guided me gently by the elbow and started introducing me to everybody.

I’ve been by her side ever since.