(playful music)
- Oh, look.
A new friend request.
Not to humble brag, but some of us
get them as much as once a month.
On Facebook, it's a totally normal experience,
but IRL, what a weird concept.
That's not how historical friend squads
were assembled.
Jesus and all his disciple bros,
the Three Musketeers, the non-Miranda members
of Sex and the City, all of them famous
friend squads all formed with grace and smoothness.
I certainly don't have either of those things,
but let's be honest, neither does Miranda.
Is it possible for me to infiltrate
a group of friends and become part of a squad?
(fast-paced rock music)
To better acquaint myself with the inner workings
of squad life, I talked to some
of the most successful squad members I know,
in addition to a random squad I found on the street.
What friendship qualities are essential
to being a squad?
- Part of being a squad is supporting each other.
- Here, we alls watch each other's back
and watch each other's toes
and watch each other fingernails.
That's the squad.
- So who are each of you in a squad?
- I'm the weird, silly one, probably.
- Zach is the cute one.
I'm the beautiful one, and Eugene was the gorgeous one.
- The one you wanna fuck.
- Yeah.
- I'm the cool guy, ya mean?
- I'm the short guy and the dork guy.
- And I'm the watcher, they call me Slim.
- I don't know who I am.
- Well, I think that having the different
qualities of squad members helps
balance everybody else out.
- How many people can be in a squad?
How many is too many?
- There's only too many when y'all dysfunctional.
- I'd say no more than seven.
- Seven?
What do you guys do when you hang out?
What does a squad exactly do?
What are the activities?
- Brunch.
- Camping.
Kayaking.
- Do you have any advice for someone
just like, I don't know, a friend of mine,
who's trying to get into a squad,
what they could do?
- Gifts is always nice.
- All you gotta do is throw a football.
Just find another person,
throw a football with 'em,
and you'll become friends.
- What squad do you want to be in?
Is there an existing squad that you wish
you were a part of?
- I would love to be in Ladylike.
(pop music)
- [Voiceover] It's ladylike.
- It's ladylike.
- [Voiceover] We're applying lip gloss.
(voices overlapping)
- It's a good squad, but they already
have a pretty fleshed out role system there.
- [Blonde Woman] Hey, you know what?
Fuck Keith.
He's not the least bit ladylike.
But me, I'm capable.
I could be the missing piece to the beautiful,
inspiring Ladylike jigsaw puzzle.
Luckily, I could use this video
as an excuse to extract
all the juicy intel I needed.
(claps)
What kind of qualities as a friend
do you have to have to be in a squad?
- I feel like I'll be friends with anyone
who laughs at my jokes.
(laughing)
- [Blonde Woman] It's like they were giving me
the recipe to the secret sauce,
the secret lady sauce.
Uh, no. That sounds bad.
How many people is the appropriate number
to have in a squad?
How many is too many?
- Seven and up.
- Seven and up. So seven is the cap.
(delicate harp music)
- I'd say no more than seven.
Seven. Seven.
- Okay, fine.
Keith was right. Unfuck Keith.
What's an activity squads do together?
- Eat food.
- What kind of food?
- Guac.
- [Blonde Woman] Guacamole?
- Yeah.
- That's a cool necklace.
I just noticed your necklace.
- Thank you.
- [Blonde Woman] Clearly I had my work cut out for me.
But snacks? Easy.
Surely I could find some guacamole
at the low-stock convenience store
half a block away.
Do you guys sell guacamole?
- Oh! Sorry.
They don't have guacamole!
Are you frickin' kidding me?
No, that's not it.
Where is guacamole sold?
You guys don't sell guacamole, right?
But the store didn't have any,
but if you mix all of the things we got together,
it's basically guacamole.
We got lime and chips, salsa verde chips,
bean dip, nacho cheese dip,
green onion dip, and is this cat food?
With my shoddy snacks locked and loaded,
it was time to focus on me.
What could I personally offer Ladylike?
I must have some redeeming qualities.
I mean, I was part of a squad
during my wild youth in Florida.
- Hi.
- Hi, friend.
Maybe a former squad member could shed
some light on the matter.
Okay, so we're doing a video about squads,
and there's a group of girls here at Buzzfeed
called Ladylike.
They go drag racing and they get to try
all the new beauty products,
and it's something I've always
wanted to be a part of.
- What are the Ladybugs, or Lady,
what's the thing?
- Ladylike, they're the coolest people here!
We had a mini squad in high school.
- Yeah, we were called The Rockstars.
(laughs)
(rock music)
- Who did it consist of?
It was me and you, Sydney, Polo, Skeet, and Nick.
- [Darla] Do you remember the story
behind why his name was Skeeter?
- [Kelsey] No.
- It's because his mom said
that he looked like a mosquito.
(laughs)
- Now as an adult, I don't know what's happened,
but I really don't have a lot
of close friends anymore, especially female friends.
It's weird how it's changed.
- I don't know.
I think that also is just a part of growing up.
- Do you think I have any qualities,
or do you remember any qualities about me
that would make me perfect for a squad out here?
- You were pretty makeup savvy.
- Yeah.
- And you were definitely a bit of a tomboy,
like sports and shit, so you definitely
would be cool to go car racing or something.
- Yeah!
- Yeah, you were also fairly involved in sports too.
- Yeah, then I got really into pot.
You're making a really good case for me.
- Ooh, you could be the adventurous one.
- Yeah, I think that describes me as an adult.
- So yeah, I think you could fit that.
- Thanks!
Darla was right. I am squad-worthy.
When I'm not barricaded in my apartment
like a homeless shut-in,
I'm absolutely makeup savvy and adventurous.
With a renewed sense of confidence,
I figured it was time to test the waters
and work my makeup savvy magic on Ladylike.
We actually set up a hidden camera at their desk.
We told them it was for another video
for a time-lapse.
They have no idea that we are doing this.
I'm gonna go try to use my in with Curly
as a tactic to go in and maybe start
planting the seeds with them.
Be cool. Is my mic showing?
No? Cool.
(suspenseful music)
Hey.
- Hello! How are you, my friend?
- Good.
How are you?
- Good.
- Oh yeah, we're doing the thing this week.
- Oh yeah, yeah, for the--
- For the newsletter.
Oh my gosh.
I meant to come back up and tell you guys.
Freddie, have you guys ever seen Rite Aid's makeup?
- [Curly] Section?
- Yeah.
- Dude, I just went over there,
and they have their own goddamn line.
(Freddie laughs)
It was crazy.
It's nice makeup.
We still need to eat together soon.
- [Curly] Yeah.
- So I have no fucking clue how that went.
Clearly, there was no more time for half measures.
If I truly wanted in on the squad,
I'd have to go all-out.
(techno music)
So it's time to take all the things I've learned.
The football, the snacks, my adventurous
can-do attitude, and put all of it
out there for them.
Luckily, they happened to be filming
a Ladylike video that week.
It was my time to show them what life
could be like with a little slice of Kelsey.
Okay, so I know what they like,
I know what they don't like,
I need to smoosh myself up a little bit
to match them.
I mean, you think I could be in it, right?
- Yeah.
- I'm gonna be in Ladylike by the end of the day.
(elevator hums)
We're about to crash the Ladylike shoot,
see if they'll let me be in their squad.
They're doing the Spanx Olympics in there,
so I got my Spanx on, brought a football, got my snacks.
I don't see how they could say no.
(suspenseful music)
- [Ashly] Kelsey, what the fuck?
- [Kelsey] Sorry, sorry I'm late.
Hey guys.
- [Ashly] Hey, what's--
- [Kelsey] Oh, good catch.
- Thanks.
- [Ashly] (chuckles) What are you doing?
- I was thinking about all the stuff
we talked about yesterday,
about the squads, and so I thought I could be in this.
(laughing)
I feel like you need a wild child in your squad,
and so I just figured that I,
I have guacamole stuff,
well it's not guacamole exactly, but--
- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They're a little tight but, hey Freddie.
- I feel like I would fit in really well in Ladylike.
- That is very sweet.
- Right?
- Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- [Kelsey] The ladies accepted me with open arms,
but in my heart of hearts, I felt
I hadn't earned it.
Setting up hidden cameras is no way
to make friends.
If I wanted an authentic squad experience,
I'd have to do it right.
And so, I did what I always do.
Stood around awkwardly with my pants off.
And then ran away.
I'll text you guys.
- You're leaving?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
They literally couldn't have been
nicer about it, you know what I mean?
I'm gonna go take these Spanx off now.
So maybe worming your way into a squad
isn't the best way to go about it.
Just like a Facebook friend request,
you can't force someone to accept you.
It just has to happen organically.
Hey, are you guys just sitting around
eating cheesy snacks?
- [Both] Yeah.
- Can I sit with you?
- Yeah.
- I'm Kelsey, by the way.
Squads come and go.
And even if you're between squads
at the moment like me, embrace yourself.
Learn to love your independence.
After all, it's better to be squadless
than be a Miranda.
(groans) Gosh, she was the worst, huh?
Although, she really did have her shit
together more than any other one.
Carrie was jumping around.
She had no idea who she was.
Sam was just, you know,
I guess we can't say anything about
Sam and her sexuality because we need
to be sexually liberated, but.