Friends

Three years ago, I met one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Or so I thought at the time. Maybe it was because we had all seven classes together. Maybe it was because we understood each other. Either way, I can’t really say that I care, because during the second semester of that year, she quit talking to me. There was no explanation, no cause—nothing. So, of course I tried to find out, but she wouldn’t answer messages or even pick up the phone. I would equate it to being stabbed in the back, but with as much as I trusted this person, it was more like that scene in The Patriot where Mel Gibson chops the British soldier up with a hatchet like it’s nobody’s business. In the back.

I was always a shy person, so people never really bothered to talk to me. Having a good friend is something that happens very rarely, and it’s something I take very seriously.

Sometime, during the next year, some completely random person started talking to me. I had no idea she was and had never seen her before. In a way, she saved my life, because with the way things were going back then, I have no idea where I’d be without her. Oh, and did I mention that at the time, she was probably ten times more miserable than I’ll ever be? 'Cause that’s kind of important to know. It’s ironic that people who you’ve known your whole life don’t care enough to sit down and talk to you for two minutes, but a complete stranger does. A complete stranger whose everyday life is a living hell, to be exact. She still took the time for some little kid like me. To this day, I've never, and will probably never, meet another friend who cares like she does.

Moral of the story: you can truly change (or even save) someone’s life just by starting a conversation, even if you don’t know them.