Gone are the days...

Alright, so I promised to write about my friends from CHS, GCF, and Capital. Not quite sure who that promise even matters to, but I keep my promises. And so I will attempt to compose a half decent account of my friendships from those places…or at least CHS in this post. These posts seem to become much longer than expected as I compose them….

High school was not exactly the most pleasant experience of my life. Actually, pretty much anything school related I would be happy to neatly tuck away in some dark corner never to be revisited. However, I actually met some really cool people there...so that option is well, not an option.
I moved to North Carolina my freshman year of high school. I know, crazy right? Moving to a brand new state the beginning of my high school career?? How about we add some icing to that delicious cake, it was also my first year in public school...ever. I had attended "Christian School" from pre-school until 8th grade and public school was well, quite the new experience. It really could have gone either way...I could have stayed sheltered and naive or I coulda' busted out of my tightly constructed shell and gone "buck-wild". I count myself lucky, because neither of those 2 things happened (at least not until later), I found a happy medium somewhere right in between.
I can remember orientation, everyone had on their melon, orange, and red Tommy Hilfiger polo shirts with their khaki bell bottoms or golf shorts. I was still wearing straight leg pants with t-shirts and white tennis shoes from cheap clothing stores in Maryland that have long since been shut down, and who was this Tommy guy?
I met Sheila at orientation. She had on a tight red baby doll shirt with black jeans; the legs were 5 times bigger than her own. She was short and had her long hair pulled back in a pony tail. She was friendly and talked a lot.
My brother walked me to my classes for the first few weeks of school until I figured everything out. I can't remember who I spent the most time with during those first few years. Oh I remember their names, but I don't have any stories that are worth re-telling on here. There was Janie, whose brother was in Virginia because he had done something bad and got sent away. There was Heather, who had moved from Mt. Airy just like I had, except North Carolina instead of Maryland. There was Allison, she was quiet but fun and, like me, just wanted someone to be best friends with. There was Crystal and Angelica, and Deanna...she looked just like Brittney Spears in the early days. There was Aimee and Sara (without the H, thank you very much!) and Patty, Kerri, and Lindsay. To be honest, I probably spent most of my time with Sara. That is until my brother “stole” her from me…they dated for 5 years and she is the reason that he moved to Wilmington, however not the reason he stayed.
The friends that I enjoy remembering at CHS are Nicole, Christina, Danielle, Jeff, and Sonya. Weirdly enough, Nicole and I stayed friends sporadically and when I began dating my ex, she ended up knowing him and his brother from before she ever met me, they had gone to middle school together.
Christina…the memories that I have with that girl are insane and countless. We had so many inside jokes it was beyond ridiculous. I experienced many “firsts” with her…including smoking pot and skipping school. She ended up in the hospital after the first time we smoked pot…it was laced with something and she was not digging the hot pink hammers flying at her face. I was grounded for 3 months for that one. We also skipped school to go to the fair. Would you believe the school never caught us, but my dad did? Yup, grounded for that one too. Her and my best friend at the time were interested in each other. I began cleaning out my storage unit this past weekend and found a note from her about him, she wanted me to tell him that she’d love to be his girlfriend when she was through being grounded…good times.
Danielle and I still talk on a regular basis, she found me on MySpace after seeing me in Wal-Mart. I had been afraid to speak up…would she remember me? Evidently so. She is married with 3 boys and is so much different than she was back then…but she still calls me “chica” and it makes me smile. Danielle, Lindsay, and I used to meet at the Sonic after school before I had to be at work. We found a pack of Newport’s on the ground one day after school, there were 6 left. Lindsay said she had been hoping to start smoking again anyway (???); we lit them up and so began my nicotine addiction. Those were the days when I was not talented enough to light my own, so either Danielle, Lindsay, or some-guy-that-I-cannot-for-the-life-of-me remember his name would light them. Hilariously enough, they did this for about 3 months before I got the guts to try on my own. Ahh, the good days.
Jeff and Sonya were basically my best friends throughout junior and senior year. We had Allied Health Science classes together and learned how to take blood pressure and wipe butts. We used to take our lunch off campus against school rules and smoke Nat Sherman’s and eat Bojangle’s fries with egg n’ cheese biscuits while listening to Thousand Foot Krutch and Missy Elliot. Sonya has a baby now and is in the Air Force, we talk occasionally. Jeff moved to New York after high school and I’ve never been able to find him again, which makes me unbelievably sad.
High School sucked…but these people left their mark on my heart. They will always be remembered fondly and I can only hope they have as many great memories of me as I do of them.
GCF and Capital to come next….Nate will probably have an entry all to himself.