Best Friends Forever

The first real best friend that I can remember having was in the fourth grade. Natalia was my neighbor, my confidante, and my partner in crime. In elementary school we were literally attached at the hip. We waited for each other every morning to walk to the bus stop together. We sat next to each other on the school bus, in class, and never had lunch without the other. If I wasn’t at home, I could be found at her house and vice-versa. We experienced the troubles of girlhood together from our developing physical changes and first periods, to teenage rebelliousness and first crushes. We spent so much time together; it was like we were practically sisters. The story “The Two of Us,” about the twin sisters reminded me of my relationship with my best friend. Just like Hannah could tell Sarah anything, Natalia knew every detail possible about my life. “It [was] hard to keep things from each other, and we both know what is said in confidentiality stays that way. Why go through something alone when there’s someone you can trust to be with you?” (45).

In the sixth grade, my parents went through a very nasty divorce. Natalia was there for me while I dealt with feelings of confusion and anger. After the divorce was finalized, my mother decided to move back to New York forcing me to leave everything I knew and was comfortable with behind, including my best friend. Emma’s story, “Bloody Red Heart” about the struggles of living in a separated family really hit home for me. “It splits up friends, ruins Christmas, and makes money tight.” (53). This statement could not be truer for my family. Having to choose between different holidays to spend with my mom or dad was very difficult for me. My family dynamic was never the same after that. The relationship I had with my father slowly began to deteriorate. I can relate to Alicia in “Country” when she says “family is important to me; it is my top priority. My dad, though, is the furthest thing from my mind.” (40). My mother and my brother mean the world to me. My father on the other hand is a completely different story. Our relationship was one that was defined by arguments, fights, and emotional damage.

My first boyfriend was not much of a relationship. In middle school, boyfriends and girlfriends were just people you held hands with walking down the hallways and sat with at lunch. We never really went on dates or anything like that back in middle school, so in my opinion that “relationship” doesn’t count. This all occurred when I was in eighth grade. The next time I got into a relationship was during my junior year of high school. At this point in my life all of my friends were in serious relationships and I was the ONLY single person left in our little clique. When Jasmine describes her best friend’s relationship in “Decent Guy on the Planet,” she mentions how she was “so happy for her but at the same time asked [herself] why [she] still didn’t have a boyfriend” (147). I found myself in that same predicament when I was in high school. I like something was seriously wrong with me since I was the only one without a boyfriend. Due to that influence, I kind of just threw myself into any relationship opportunity that came my way. Looking back on that now, it obviously wasn't the smartest way to go about things. I've learned form my mistakes however, and I'm now a lot more careful about the relationships I might be intending to pursue.