College

When I first got to college, I was so excited. I was ready to learn about being a teacher, ready to have all-nighters studying, ready to become a cute college girl. I was ready to meet my bridesmaids and have crazy *#*CoLLeGe*#* stories to tell my future kids. And you know what? I didn't. I have made some acquaintances, and some friends. But I haven't made best friends. I really haven't. I've spent college looking around aimlessly trying to connect with people. Aka I've been sitting in the back of the room on Tumblr, but whatever.

 I always pictured my college friends as these cool girls with amazing closets full of Free People that they'd let me borrow. I thought they'd have my taste in music and movies and that we'd stay up late talking about boys and books. I know this sounds stupid but it's what I thought. Instead I found friends I can go out with and not talk about anything, friends I can study with, and a few friends I can eat lunch with. There is nothing wrong with these girls. In fact, I love them like really. But I don't feel that "you're my sister and my best friend and I want to tell you everything about me and learn everything about you and we're gonna be friends forever" bond. Why is that? My only explanation is that I already found that.

 My two best friends since Elementary School, are still here for me today. I found that love in fourth grade. These girls are the type I can invite over to watch a show they hate, to do chores with me, or to listen to me vent. Which happens. A lot. They're the type of friends who send me pictures of clothes they're trying on, who ask my opinion on Chia seeds ("are you really pooping more?" "Are they like gross?") and whose lives I have watched happen. I remember when they each had their first heartbreak, when they *ahem* became a woman, who they liked in 7th grade, and the first band that they just adored. I didn't have to learn these things about them through long talks and "get to know you" games because I experienced them first hand. And how cool is that?

These girls are my best friends, and they're so much better than my dream college friends. They're real, they know me, they accept me, and they love me. I've never had to pretend for a second that I'm into dubstep or that I just LUV salad. Nah, they accept that listen almost exclusively to musicals and 90s alternative and they know that I order chicken fingers everywhere I go. They're a part of me a part of my story, a part of my heart.  They've shaped who I am and they've changed my entire life.

  So meet Amanda (on my left) and Brittany (on my right), my soulmates, bridesmaids, sisters, and best friends. If they're the only two I've got then I'm still luckier than most.