I Had A Friend

Elementary School Years

As second grade ended, a new secondary school was built and half the kids from our old school went there, Selene being one of them. The idea of going to school without my best friend scared me.

            When the first day of third grade rolled around, I nervously fiddled with my short brown, braided hair and tugged at my pink pleaded skirt. Third through fifth grade students went to a separate school. The new school was new to me and twice the size of my old school. I nervously walked into my new classroom and was assigned to sit in a worn desk in the front of my class. The day went on and I found my teacher to seem nice but I could tell that that would change.

             As weeks went by, third grade turned out to be okay. I made a group of friends that I would talk and giggle with, but it wasn’t as fun as hanging out with Selene. I would look forward to weekends when I could hang out with Selene. We would spend our weekends playing hide and seek, making up shows, pretending to be celebrities, and all those games you would play as a nine year old. It became a tradition that every Christmas we would spend it with each other and our birthdays were so close together we could also celebrate our birthdays together too. We had double sleepovers together and went on tropical vacations together. I will always remember the time our parents brought us on a vacation to a weekend in the Keys.

            I guess you could say our lives were on the upside, not a care in the world just two girls having the time of our lives. I wish I had cherished those days longer, because once we became older our lives got rougher.

            After fifth grade we both were heading off to middle school, the problem was we might not be in the same school again. Over the years Selene had taken on a talent for singing and I had just planned to go to a close school so I could just walk to school. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Selene to get into the music school, it was just I would love to finally have a class with my friend again. I continued on with my fifth grade year enjoying being the oldest in the school and I did have a small group of friends in school that I was close to. Fifth grade was a fun year, the year before was very stressful to me and this year I could finally relax. I came to enjoy coming to school and I was always happy though, I wouldn’t be able to Selene until the weekend.

            Once the day rolled around to find out what schools everyone got into I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t want to feel too happy if Selene got into the special school, but I know I wasn’t going to be happy if she got in. Once I got home and finished my homework I called her. She answered almost in tears; she hadn’t gotten in and was really disappointed. I reassured her that we would be together in school at last! I guess I didn’t understand back then that getting into that school was something that she had hoped for. I was too selfish and cared only about my own needs that I wasn’t there to reassure her enough. To this day I still wish I would be there in that moment when I got that call. And I would have changed what I had said. It is too late now.

            Life is too short to take something for granted, something I wish I had understood back then. I would I could have comprehended that everything ends at one time, and that you must live it in the moment. I guess it is too late for that now.