Friends

"Gennie was the first person in my life that I was ever conscious of loving. 

She was my first true friend."

(Zami, page 87)

Just the fact that the last statement from Lorde, "She was my first true friend", is separated from her other statements, gives this quote a very significant meaning. 

It is amazing to me to think that for fifteen years, Lorde did not feel as if she had a single friend. Even her group of "friends" that she spent the majority of her time with before Gennie were apparently not truly her friends? It just doesn't make sense to me that a person can spend so much time with a person or group of people, and not consider them to be a friend, whether a distant one or not.

This idea, that for fifteen years of her life Lorde did not have a single friend, says a lot about how her bringing up and family relations affected her social skills. Not only this, but to later on, after only knowing her briefly, lose the one friend she had formed can do a lot of damage to her psyche. To lose anyone, especially someone and the only person you have a close bond with, is a hardship, and I believe truly cemented Lorde's feelings for Gennie further.