the people we become

i remember knowing you for what seemed like all of my life.

inseparable. insane.

i wanted to be a photographer, you a DJ.

that tiny little blue desk in your bedroom that no one would be able to fit their legs under. that was where you did you homework you explained.

we weren't allowed to get sprinkles on our ice cream when your dad treated. he also tricked us into believing we were playing a game as we made our way to the private park, through the back field, hopping over the fence, never paying. we never were allowed to play in one place for very long, "gotta keep moving," he'd tell us.

drinking in lion's park before we headed off to the eric's party. me shutting my fingers in the door. the window was rolled down, naturally i mistook my car for a convertible. good thing i was drunk.

that high speed chase in your dad's insanely expensive sports car, i guess that's why he was stingy with the sprinkles, he was saving up for the car. the girls screaming. us laughing. me thinking quietly to myself, so this is how i'll die.

our water fights with jules at lunch. once a week, as the monitor looked away, shaking his head. learning the combinations to all our friends' lockers, then swapping all their belongings with someone else, once a week.

saying goodbye to you as you left for miami.

the summer parties at your house that we all lived for. thoughts of them were what got us through the semesters. me passing out on your trampoline, face down because it was cold. mindo passing out on the piano bench, falling and landing on her head. the following day when one of her pupil's was twice the size of the other one. G backing over your mailbox, that your parents custom ordered. the community vodka bottle that survived an entire summer with us, constantly changing hands.

seeing so much of your dad in you at our ten year reunion. we laughed, we reminisced. but from eighteen to twenty-eight we went from being friends to strangers. i laughed at your jokes, you laughed at my stories. but i could see the look on your face as you stood there wondering where you friend went. i was thinking the same thing.

we never really know where any of our choices will lead us. it's impossible to guess who we'll still know five years from any one point in our life. and who will become just another character in the stories we like to tell.

become you . indigo girls