Old Friends

So obviously leading up to college lots of things change, we prepare for and expect that as the next step in life hits us.  Last week and this week are move in weeks for most of my former classmates' colleges.  I've seen countless before and after dorm pictures on my Facebook feed, and I'm feeling a bit left out but also a bit rueful.  SCAD students don't move in until September, my particular scheduled move in day is the 12th, so I get to hang out at home almost a month more than they do.

This extra time means I get to visit with old friends and teachers from my high school, because my siblings start school this upcoming week.  This opportunity really hit home for me because I was contacted by an old friend (lets call her L), someone I hadn't seen in several years.

L and I had been good friends, we liked a lot of the same things, hung out and talked at lunch and just spent time together.  It was just the two of us.  Going into junior year of high school, she switched schools and the transition was kind of hard for both of us.  I was used to it being just us two, so I had to find a new group of friends to hang with; not an easy task in high school.  I was successful, but I was never as close with the new group as I was with L, I just never felt they would understand me quite like her, so I closed down a bit.

On the other hand, L had been counting on her other friend T to help her out with the transition, which was probably daunting considering the new school was bigger and she knew nobody except T.  The exact opposite happened.  T gave L the cold shoulder at first, but was then downright mean to L; they are no longer friends.  I was upset when I had heard this, because L was the type of friend you feel is an easy target for bullying: she's physically small and likes some things that aren't mainstream popular, and I had always been there to protect her.  She probably didn't really need my protection, she'd always been strong willed and content with herself,  but I still worried.  L, of course, settled in just fine and we communicated sporadically.

We never managed to get together and actually see each other until now, and it was great.  She brought S, a new friend of hers whom I had spoken to but never seen or met.  We hung out twice over the last three days and caught up.  The timing was impeccable because she's leaving today and by the time she returns, I'll be adjusting to my classes in Savannah.  So I wrote this to her, as well as to her friend and my new acquaintance S, to wish them luck in their future endeavors.

Leave a comment if you have a best friend you miss or haven't seen recently.