There he was. As preppy as ever, and he didn’t seem too happy. It was a Friday

evening right before sunset. While at the game with my dad, I told him I had some

stomach issues, so I could get away to meet him. Him, my friend Brent, had always just

spoken over the phone with me.  You see he had dated one of my best friends at the time,

and she wanted me to get to know him so she gave my number to him. He never, during

those first days of talking to him, wanted to hang up and had convinced me to meet him.

Luckily there was a Cedar Park vs. Westwood game so we agreed to meet outside the

gym at West wood.


He  seemed to recognize me even though I didn’t . He waved to me in that way

you wave to a friend when you want them to sit and talk to you. He introduced himself

even though I already knew his name, so I returned the gesture. I felt a chill crawl up my

back and he immediately wrapped his arms around me and looked me in the eye. Ever

since then we have been  best friends.


We can talk about anything to each other, though we never see eye to eye. He’s

semi popular and gets along with people. I tend, even though I am out going, to rub

people the wrong way. He’s very athletic and makes straight A’s most of the time.  While

I coast through school and  am more artistically inclined.


We get along very well ,though, as a mismatched  pair. We strengthen each other.

He get’s very anxious when it comes to peoples thoughts while I don’t care. I get mad

easily while he stays calm most of the time. It’s as if we are yin yang and balance each

other out.
He is very special to me. When I feel the world has turned it’s back on me there

he is smiling away, arms open, ready for my embrace. In my eyes he can do no wrong.

Granted I do get mad at him, so technically I am not fully putting him on a pedestal.


When he comes to me with a problem I always try and think up new ways to help

him. I have only seen him sad once and I couldn’t bare it. He looked so helpless and

starved. It was like looking at an abused or orphaned puppy. Eyes wide with fear and a

stone cold body. Yet when he is happy he is the sun. Bright as can be with a big smile

showing all his teeth and crows feet around his brown eyes. He has dimples which make

his face look like a ten year old.


He’s a sophomore at Westwood, so we don’t see each other as often as we like,

maybe once a week.


It sort of scares me that he is a sophomore. That means I only have 2 and a ½

years to spend with him before he goes off to college . I know we’ll stay in touch, that’s

not a problem, but it means we wont get to see each other for months at a time. So as a

policy right now we are trying to make the next two and a ½ years together as memorable

as possible.


The lesson my friendship has taught me is that today is really a present. We

should make the most of the little time we have on this magnificent earth . We should

create memories that live on through our children. We should appreciate the people in our

lives today.