I was 12 years old, and she was maybe eight.  She constantly came over to see if I could play.  My father began to question her interest in me and told her I was busy.  She continued asking, so he told her to find someone her own age.  She was the first person I knew who had a different last name than her mother.  Her father abandoned their family when she was younger.  She had a hamster that she always held very tightly, and I wondered if she did that because she was afraid that he would leave her too.

He was a skinny kid who played the violin.  I thought he was OK, but then he bullied my brother.  He constantly teased and tortured my brother on the way to school, at school, and on the way home.  I had dreams about murdering Kyle violently.  He was the first person I truly wished would die.  However, eventually I felt sympathetic towards him.  I saw how none of the other kids really liked him, how he’d lie to try to increase his status among the other kids, and how his parents didn’t love him.  He made me appreciate my family.

I had a crush on him and felt jealous of his platonic friend Paige.  Every day before our criminal justice class the three of us would meet outside and talk.  I could see that she was infatuated with him, but he seemed indifferent.  I first met Tommy at the homecoming dance where his friend was my date.  Tommy grabbed me and danced with me enthusiastically in front of my date.  He broke the corsage my date gave me, but it was so fun.  Little did I know that a year later Tommy would frequently be a guest at after-school detention.

She was the first person I recognized as being a lesbian.  She was ostracized by the other students when she began dating one of my friends.  Kirsten’s hair color changed  frequently from teal green to pink to blue-black.  She naturally looked like an albino, with platinum hair and super pale skin with a rosy hue.  She used to call me “Lola the Thymaster”, which disturbed me because it was the first time a woman had ever made a sexual comment about me.  I imagine she either became a businesswoman who wears a suit daily, or died of a drug overdose.

She was my closest friend in high school and always know the right thing to say or do.  She worked as a student counselor, so when a friend of mine developed a crack addiction, I went to her.  Always showing concern for others, I felt bad that others didn’t seem to show as much concern for her.  She developed a crush on someone I considered to be a delinquent.  Jeannette constantly helped him and cared for him, but unfortunately he constantly seemed to disappoint her.  I was so happy for her when she found someone later who truly loved her.