In

high school

I remember being best friends with someone who made me feel terribly uncomfortable.

To this you might say, how can you call them your best friend?

But similar to how adults with responsibilities stay in jobs they might hate, that's how this friendship felt.

Seems bizarre now to remember how much having friends mattered back then: never be caught alone. I can remember nobody except the pariah ever seated alone during

lunch

.

This was before smart phones. Before laptops in school. So all that you could do -- if you were one of the few seated alone -- was dodge all stares, hoping to pass the entire duration without meeting any other eyes. They may be watching you eating alone, but do not catch them, watching you.

This evasion is why such kids are often assumed to be

daydreamers

. To be "creative". 

The way their eyes glide around, the way their head would sway, and how they would never notice you watching them no matter how long you eye fucked them. It's the kind of look you'd give a daydreamer in a movie or TV show. But really they're just killing enough time until they're allowed to go to the library.