It is New Year's Eve and that is insane. I don't even know if this year can be put into words. It's been one hell of a ride but I can honestly say that every minute of it has been absolutely worth it.
& here are the highlights, dedicated to Cecilie, Molly, Emma, Natalie, Stacy, Amy, Andrew, Joe, Evan, Wesley, SVSM & everyone else who has made this year incredible:
The year started off with a huge hangover after a night none of us will ever forget but can laugh about now. I watched Molly find the boy she eventually fell in love with, and Emma go through so many of the same things I was and so many other things I couldn't even begin to comprehend. Tried to get Cecilie to stop being
antisocial [Alas, our efforts failed.]. Lunch time Em and Nat was delightful, full of 1/2 mile walks to Longview in the cold and lots of cursing and bitching and occasionally indulging in starbucks/arbys. Fighting with Stacy and not speaking for a month then awkwardly making up in the bathroom during 6th period...of the days I actually decided to go to APUSH.Then there was Emma and I drinking our sorrows away over boys that didn't end up meaning a thing. Eating chocolate covered raisins alllll the time [the kind from blockbuster that come in the round container of course. Raisinettes just don't cut it.] More 3/4ths sleepovers full of so much laughter that we kept the neighbors up.
Finding Andrew, the one boy who has honestly changed everything [and no, we have never dated, or even hooked up.] and realizing how important he is to me and how lost I would be without him in my life. Watching him deal with relationships, giving him advice I knew he wouldn't take, arguing for hours about nothing important, and disagreeing on everything.
I tried the dating thing with Evan, and surprise! it didn't work out. But I met some amazing people through him and spent too many hours laughing about stupid shit with them.
Then to everyone's shock I showed up at prom and even put some effort into looking cute after months of swearing I wouldn't go.Spring break visit to New York to see family;then the parties of course [Amy pretending to be Mom.]
There was the mono spell when I missed 2 months of school and sat at home bored off my ass.
Then of course there were the hours and hours and hours of homework that we all put off until the last possible moment;pulling more all-nighters than I ever had to in my life and staying up talking to everyone who had Achenbach online the night before we had papers due;AP Biology lab group love and the fish we will remember foreverrr.AP exams came and went and thanks to hours of studying I passed them all.
Molly Em Cecilie Scott and I pulled off Jam for AIDS after months of planning and fighting and meeting in coffee shops after school;sent $2600 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and it was one of the best feelings in the world.
My 17th birthday was eventful. lots of drama after stripping and a water balloon fight in Pullen then the cops coming then eventually passing out at Molly's.
There was endless drama but we got over the baby things fast and worked out everything else with time;learning how to talk to each other instead of letting everyone find out things through other people;and just growing up and figuring out who we really needed in our lives. People we loved were lost along the way but we learned how to cope and continued figuring out who we are.
Finally it was summer. After only a few weeks of freedom I jetted off to Boone for 4 weeks to learn more science and math and met some of the most incredible people [Sara, Tori, Chelsea, Meriam, Kyle, Stephen, Ken, Jordan, Jonathan, Burcu, & the rest.]
Of course there was that boy again all summer and I swore I wouldn't get hurt again but did. No more
bitterness or anger because it really was fun while it lasted and everyone involved is happy now. My best friends were still there for me all summer long and we spent endless hours swinging in Pullen, smoking too many cigarettes, driving around downtown, and watching the boys get homeless people to buy us beer.We started Senior year both excited and scared about everything that was in store. Little did we know how much work it was going to be and we bitched and moaned for the first two months while everyone tried to do all of their work, get those apps done and still have a social life. Everything eventually fell into place and the acceptance letters started coming...all the hard work from junior year finally paying off.
Now I truly feel like we are on the brink of everything. We have a few more months together before everything changes again. Here's to making this the best year of our lives, despite the change. Because no matter how much we yell and how much drama there is, we know we couldn't get through it without each other. I love you all.