How do the other boys treat the speaker after he gets hit? They are unfriendly to him. They make him sad and lonely. They accept him as a friend. They push him away.
Cliques are groups of friends, but not all groups of friends are cliques. The thing that makes a group a clique (say: KLIK) is that they leave some kids out on purpose. They form groups that they won't let other kids belong to. Sometimes kids in the clique are mean to kids they think are on the outside. Usually one or two popular kids control who gets to be in the clique and who gets left out.
