Things that nobody wants to hear

I feel like a squad is capable of taking action because of a strong bond whereas a clique is more of a semi-social group that gathers because they're forced to be in the same space

Good question Erica (and other curious people) like I just mentioned before the key difference in my opinion is the conscious and unconscious difference ... Like for example I'll use you (Erica), panda, gurren and xynox since you're bumping the "lets clique up" thing (with whatever degree of seriousness) .... to show you the difference between being a Squad and being a clique Clique scenario: erica, panda, gurren, and xynox for whatever reason(s) just start mutually interacting with each other a lot ... there isn't any real conscious discussion of "lets make this a thing" and nobody in the group really references each other as a group but act with some group characteristics. Plus cliques tend to be bonded over some ancillary or less serious and meaningful things. Squad scenario: erica, panda, gurren and xynox for whatever reason(s) mutually interact with each other a lot with the intention of creating a "friendship pact" of sorts. There is more of a mutual effort to create (stronger) ties and the group is much more of a point of emphasis. Squad while it might start out more casual and about more superficial things is more likely to evolve into something more serious. Note: there are a bunch of similarities and the difference is mostly connotation versus denotation