My life with my best friend

I'm Ben and I'm 32 and my best friend Jazz is also 32, we have been friends since her family moved in next door 26 years ago. We became best friends immediately, probably due to living next door and being the same age. We would walk to school every day and when we got home, we would spend every afternoon playing games or sports and bike riding. We were just normal kids and did all the things friends would do. We got through elementary as one, we did everything together, we even did our homework together. I would spend nights at her house half the time, we would do our schoolwork and I would eat there. The other half was spent at my house, doing much the same. The bond was built by this time, she was my best friend, and I was pretty sure at this point I was hers but, you would need to ask her, because I never asked. This is how I saw our friendship from my side of it. I saw changes in her around this time, she was growing up. I was there when my friend teased her and said mean things to her, she was so upset she started to cry, so I put my arm around her and led her away from my friend. We were in fourth grade at this point, I told her he was doing these things because he really liked her, and he was always talking about her in school. She stopped crying, looked at me and asked, really? We had a laugh about it and the next day she approached him, and they were boyfriend and girlfriend for the next two days, come on its elementary school, relationships hardly lasted till lunch. Then in sixth grade, there was her first kiss, nope it wasn't me. A boy new to our school came in and swooped her off her feet. No not really, he got lucky because of the truth or dare game we were playing during lunch time.

Summer break was great, we would bike ride to the other neighborhood to find our friends and spend the day with them. We would leave early and return when the streetlights came on. It was great when the sun went down too. We were allowed in the front yards and talk or play games whatever we wanted to, as long as we didn't leave our front yards. One day Jazz's mom took her to the store and Jazz told me, she couldn't hang out until later in the afternoon. I was sad but, I found something to waste time on. We spent the rest of that day close to home because it would be dark soon. Jazz was acting weird that night and just kept tugging at her shoulders and under her arm pits. She was doing this so much, I had to ask, and she replied: My mom got me my first bra today and I hate this damn thing. I think this was the first time that I realized Jazz was a girl and not just my best friend. I never looked at her that way, she was just a buddy.

That summer ended and then time went by quickly. Jump to high school. Jazz would have boyfriends and I would have girlfriends, but we remained as best friends. During the high school years Jazz would tell me all her secrets, usually looking for advice and I did the same with her. I knew when the first guy's hands made it all the way up her bra. And she knew when I made a move on another girl just to get slapped... All the way up to high school graduation we told each other everything, and we always agreed this was going to be a friendship of a lifetime and it should never end. We were like soul mates but as best friends. That summer was our best, Jazz knew I was going out of state for college. Jazz was staying home and going to the university in the town 26 miles away. So, we included each other in everything we were doing with other friends. I would hang out with Jazz and her boyfriend, and they would go bowling with me and my friends. We just wanted to be together as much as possible before I left. One night we were out with Jazz's boyfriend, and his group of buddies, including 2 girls we had never met. They were drinking beer and a bottle of whisky. We were out at the lake, and they all started shouting take it off, take it off, this was directed at Jazz's boyfriend. Me and jazz just watched as he dropped his shorts. He was standing there, Buutt ass naked. He jumps into the lake and the rest of the group started removing their clothes and followed him. Me and Jazz just stood there; we didn't even look at each other when I asked, are you getting in? She said hell no. Then she asked me, and I said no.. do you want to go? She nodded her head, and we walked to my car and left. When we got in the car, she had this look on her face of disgust. She couldn't believe her boyfriend would do anything like that. We talked that entire night till the sun came up. She dumped him by text that night. Two weeks later, I was off for college.

When I was in college, Jazz and I spoke every night for at least an hour. This was unless one of us had something special to talk about then they could go for 3 to 4 hours. Like the time Jazz tells be about her first experience with sex, and all the details about it, and when I told her about the girl I met at a campus party and she took me back to her dorm room, and how that night went. We would face chat if there was a scheduled time but by phone mostly, when we were both back in our private spaces. It wasn't weird to us, this was how we were. She was my best friend and I missed being around her. We both had relationships during the college years, and we maintained our friendship, I think we may have become even closer through our honesty in our talks. We both knew everything about each other. We were always there for each other. Like when Jazz's boyfriend dumped her as soon as she slept with him. That was an epic phonecall lasting all night.

I finallycompleted college, that was a long four years. I returned to my parent's houseto start the job hunt. Jazz still lived with her parents and had a full-timejob working for the fire department as a dispatcher. We picked up as if I hadn'teven left. A couple years passed by, and I'm now working for a firm in the city35 miles away. Both me and Jazz worked in the city, traffic was only gettingworse, so we talked about getting a place together. It worked out better thaneither of us thought. We were both grown-ups and we started to think how we gotalong so well, so why aren't we together? We thought we would give this a try,so I set up our first date... It was a disaster; we were all decked out in our first-dateclothes (you all know what I mean the ones for first impressions). She walkedout of her room and was just stunning, my eyes popped out but just a little bit,my heart just sat there. I didn't have any feelings for her except as my bestfriend. Jazz just looked at me and said no... this is just not right. We stood infront of each other and just began laughing. We did still go on that dinner,but just as friends. We lived together for a couple more years. Then she met agreat guy and married him. I met my wife soon after Jazz got married, and wemarried a year and a half later. We now have 5 kids between the two families. Wehad bought new track homes next door to each other, I put in a pool and thenJazz put an outdoor theater and grill, we put a gate between the backyards, soour families are connected forever. We see each other almost daily and ourfamilies understand us and our weird friendship. But everyone's OK with that...Weresoul mates but just as best friends and could never be apart for too long...