Friends

Jenny is an ex-model. She struggles with substance abuse. Tommy is a big-time preacher now. He only waves in passing, at the grocery store or in a restaurant. Dianne moved away. At first, everyone supported her, but then maybe some resented her. She never calls, but on Facebook, we see her pictures of the West Coast. Peter was always a little different, but we all loved him anyway. Now he is a recluse, and we don’t know anything about him. Jack is a high school baseball coach. He is married with a wife and kids and claims he never has time to hang out because of them, but everyone knows it’s because of his multiple affairs. Most people say I never grew up, that I’m stuck in a dead-end job, and a waste of potential.

Looking back, things began to fall apart when we were teenagers. Tommy went on a youth trip with his church one summer and was never the same again. He made new friends and was always busy after that. Peter wasn’t cool enough in high school, so he was bullied. They didn’t associate with him as much. He stopped hanging around. Dianne and Jenny were best friends, but when Jenny and Jack started dating, Jenny didn’t have as much time for Dianne. Dianne turned to her schoolwork and decided to get a scholarship and leave this dusty old town the moment she graduated. At first, they tried to ostracize me too when I tried to hang out with Peter, but I was a star athlete on the tennis team. Crazy how being good at sports makes you cool enough. When Jenny and Jack broke up senior year, that was the final straw. Jack focused on baseball, and Jenny turned to parties to numb the pain.

Forgotten are the days of our youth when we roamed the woods together and defended our fort among the trees. Gone are the days when we painted our faces with mud and played hide and seek. The oaths of friendship we made in childhood are all seemingly past recall. Perhaps they are right, saying I never grew up, because as I ponder, I realize that I have never forgotten.