Throughout my life, I never noticed myself being particularly sociable, outgoing or willing to speak to anybody I was not already familiar with. While this was okay for the first few years of life, as children tend to get along and make friends pretty easily, my pattern of behavior started truly showing itself around middle school. Obviously, this had negative consequences for a young, stubborn me. I didn’t have any friends I’d describe as “true friends” until high school, until 2nd period art class on the first day of the second week of my freshman year of high school. Despite it only being a few days, high school & my art class was not anything like how I thought they would be. I didn’t talk to the person seated next to me, I hardly interacted with the teacher of the class, and had briefly managed to get a few comments out to the people sitting behind me, particularly to one girl. The girl with the Tame Impala pins on her messenger bag and a nose stud; 14 year old me thought she was the coolest person I could have ever conjured up in my mind. At least I knew someone.
Not even ten minutes later, this girl, as cool as I thought she was, had begun to cry behind me. I turned around, querying the tears, and she showed me she had stapled her thumb. I, for some reason, thought this was hilarious. She giggled back, and we started a conversation as our teacher called the office to alert them of my newfound friend’s predicament. She introduced herself as Hazel, and we have been inseparable ever since I wished her good luck at the nurse’s office as she walked out of the art classroom. She introduced me to her best friend at the time, Nina, and the three of us have since been a trio, tight knit & unconditional. We’ve been through countless phases together, surviving every style trend, COVID, high school, bad friend groups, and everything in between. However, as our senior year of high school approached, a new question came about: What now? I expressed my interest in living in West Chester, Nina commuting to Temple, and Hazel in taking a gap year. It’s fine, we’d rationalize, we’ll see each other every single weekend.
Rookie mistake. We hung out almost every day during the summer, but the summer heat turned to August breeze as we said goodbye after the morning after our last group sleepover of the summer. My move in day was first, and I worried constantly about the bond that the other two would continue to build as I lived away from my home in Philadelphia. As much as I’d like to say otherwise, my worst fears came true; we texted maybe once a week. They were busy, I understand. Throughout my entire freshman year of college, we hung out one time. Just like that, I thought what I had with those friends would never come again. Time persisted, and I made great friends in West Chester, people that I truly love. But it still just wasn’t the same.
Halfway through my first semester of my sophomore year of college, however, I received a text out of nowhere; Hazel. “Hey! Want to tour my apartment? I miss you” and suddenly life had 360’d. For the rest of the week, all I could think about was going on break and seeing my friends, my trio. Going there felt achingly familiar. My dad still had Hazel’s address memorized. I closed my eyes and thought about the difference between my life when I had last seen these people versus now. Experiencing this much separate from them was foreign to me; How would I even begin to fill them in? What if it’s not the same? What if they didn’t miss me? Despite it all, I knocked on her door, painter florally and familiar, reminiscent of my high school years. All of a sudden, I was fourteen again. Hazel opened the door and we hugged. We laughed all night, as if nothing had changed. I’ve never felt more grateful in my life.
All in all, I don’t think we’ll ever go back to hanging out every day, or even texting every day. Time persists and life moves with it; all I can do is take what I’m given. We still hang out a few times a month, and every time it still feels like picking up right where we left off. To be able to still have this bond with two amazing individuals is so beautiful and I spend every day counting my lucky stars that the people that are in my life stay there for good.