In eighth grade I felt
that friends were the most important element for maintaining life. Not food, or
water, not even air. It was having a group of friends. Now, of course this is
just like all thirteen year olds. So, this statement is not ground breaking, but
in junior high it was. When I was thirteen, I had a weird collection of
friends. This circle; however, did not include the most important person in my
life, that being Kyle Harris. He was, and I was completely sure of this, the
perfect example of what I needed in a friend.
In life, you do not need
to bring up in conversations how smart you are. As in, how much education you
have received. People do not need to know your diploma status. These things are
self-evident. If you have a Masters in the Social Sciences this knowledge will gracefully
glide across the table. No one needs to be
beat in the head with a diploma. This also holds true for being a friend.
Friendship, or being a good friend cannot be forced. Well, it can, but it never
ends well.
This was the case of
Kyle. From Fall until early Spring I struggled to enter his realm of friends. Although
Kyle and I would occasionally hang out, and I thought we had fun together in
the eighth grade level of buds; I spent countless amounts of energy blending in
with his other friends. I acknowledged they were way above in my social
standing, but, boy did I try. There were many times I begged my Mother for new cable
knit sweaters, as Kyle’s buds had already seen the twelve I had. Every move was
calculated on how I could force my person into group social situations. I was
sure that Kyle and I were solid, but yearned for him to put a good word for me,
so I could join their table in the lunch room. Still I sat with my collection
of freaks in a six-month old knock-off Ralph Lauren sweater.
On a freezing March
morning I approached Kyle as he sat with the friends. I tried to push into the group and be part of
the conversation. This was met by couple of other guys quickly telling me to
beat it. As I accepted their advice I attempted to remain cool and wander off.
This is when I overheard Kyle say “yeah, he hero worships me. It’s annoying. I
can’t get rid of him.”
And this is when I first
learned about being a friend verses being a good friend. It is the actions taken
by someone you trust when you are not around. I never talked to Kyle again. The
funny thing was that he never missed it, missed my friendship, and never
approached me. The funny thing was, within a week that group of guys I sat with
lunch noticed how much more fun I was to be around. The rest of the school year
was pretty memorable. Hanging out at the mall, going over to friends’ houses. Just
enjoying the short time I had until the end of eighth grade.