@Izzie,
Oh, I know you're right. It's just hard watching him go through all this. You know how it is.
SonofEva is an easy-going sort and never has any trouble making friends. Like his mother, though, he's not the type that hangs out with a certain crowd. He handpicks his friends from different cliques, and he tends to favor independents. The cliques have remained the same since last year in middle school, so those kids aren't going through this type of social transition. Independent kids have a more complicated time of it. Still, I'm proud of him for judging people on his own terms rather than following the crowd. I think that will serve him well in years to come.
The next few weeks, though....