i don't have any super solid details because i wanted to leave it open, but she moved to bar harbor when she was about nine, so she would've had a couple of awkward elementary school years before being thrown into the shark tank of middle school. she always struggled in school, mostly due to boredom, and she got in trouble a lot in elementary/middle school for not doing her work and being disruptive. she was always the one talking and would argue with the teachers about why she couldn't talk when they're just sitting there "doing nothing". that attitude calmed down by the time she hit high school but it was more out of apathy than restraint. BASICALLY, i would love the one person in middle school who helped her navigate and stuck by her even though she was always accidentally getting others into trouble and didn't really "fit in" anywhere