When I was in 7th grade, I was still a novice to the whole yearbook signing ordeal. My elementary school didn’t have yearbooks, so it was only my second year. And being the naive little girl that I was, I only brought one pen.
This one pen wasn’t particularly special, but it was pretty nice. It came from my dad’s radio station, from this gift basket of sorts, and I’ll admit I was quite partial to it. It wrote well, especially on the laminated sheets of our cheap middle school yearbooks, and I treasured it for that.
But alas, it was not to last.
My new friend, the infamous Dylan, stole my pen almost immediately. He hadn’t brought one to sign yearbooks with, and so he made due with mine. He made off with it about an hour into school, and I haven’t seen it since. It became a sort of running joke, because in 8th grade he claimed to still have it.
Now, I don’t really remember this, but apparently Dylan informed me that he promised to return my now fabled pen at graduation. I probably forgot about this because I didn’t believe him, as I knew early on he wasn’t the most trustworthy of friends.
But yesterday night, I was in for a shock. As some of you may know, after the tremors of last year rumbled out and we both finally grew up a little and came to terms with the way we and our friendship were, Dylan and I began to develop something resembling a relationship again. It’s nothing more than a nod in the hallway or a few brief “hello”s on Facebook, but it’s better than the policy of denying each others’ existence.
So I was venting about Bart being at bootcamp (more on that in a bit) when I was reminded for the first time in three years about my once beloved pen.
Dylan: a fresh start is what you need. and your pen from middle school. i have it ready in my car to return tmrw=)
Bri: Oh my god. I don’t have words for how much I just laughed. You jerk. I’m glad we’re talking again.
Dylan: hahaha! i told you! i told you! i would return it at graduation
Bri: You’re insane, and a little bit psycho. Holy crap. That just made my night. Hahahahahahaha
Dylan: hahaha i know. i knew youd remember
Bri: I always do. Geez. That’s crazy you still have it
Dylan: i. told. you. hahaha i wasnt kidding
Bri: I see that.
We’ve known each other for a long time, haven’t we?
Dylan: 7th grade! what what!
What what indeed, my old friend.
And just very quickly, on the subject of Bart at boot camp, I logged onto Facebook earlier to discover that he had posted something about a week ago. His boot camp mailing address. Needless to say, I’ve already written him a letter, transcribed the poem I read not long ago on video that I wrote for him, and am preparing to send it first thing tomorrow.
Life’s crazy sometimes, isn’t it? Wow. Just- wow.
