Webster’s Dictionary definition of best friend:

noun

1. the one friend who is closest to you



My definition of best friend:

noun

1. a person of any age and size who I count on for anything and spend extra-quality time with each and everyday



2. a person who makes you laugh, cry, and have the most memorable time with






I’m not best friend’s with someone because of the inside joke we’ve had, or because I sit with them at lunch everyday, share clothes all the time, and talk on the phone every night. I’m best friends with someone because when they smile, a grin plants itself across my face no matter what is happening in the day. Or when they cry, I instantly feel their pain and want to cry with them. And when I see them, I know there’s no one I could trust more than them.



As some people read this, they may be thinking of their best friend. Some people may not have been fortunate enough to have found a friend that compare to the definitions above. I know, I have, her name is Mary.



Most people probably haven’t heard of her. More than likely they haven’t. Unless they live in the freezing cold state , in a small town, and go to a boring school. Her name probably doesn’t ring a bell. Mary and I have spent nine years living next door to each other. We’re always together and if we’re not, we’re usually using another one of the million technologies in the world: cell phone, computer, aim, yahoo, e-mail, facebook, myspace, home phone, and even screaming out the window to each other in the middle of night.




Nine years, two months, and about three days ago, I remember waking up to a four o’clock morning ringing noise. It was the phone with my dad’s grouchy, mean boss on the other line. We were in Michigan at the time. The call between my dad’s boss and my dad would affect the rest of my life. One week later my sister, my mom, my dad, and I were loading our bags into the minivan, getting ready to move because my dad got offered a better job. We were on our way to a new state, new city , and a new house. We moved into a house on a long street in a small town. My family drove up to a two-story white building surrounded by a busy street in front, a tall wispy field to my right, dark thick woods in the back, and an empty house to my left that was still being built. Later did I know the house being built would hold a very important person who impacted my life today.

Three months later... The sun was high in the sky. It was blazing down on my pale skin while I was looking for a frog. I looked in my backyard, all through the field, and in the swamp. As I was about to give up and go inside, a white van pulled into the undisturbed driveway. I leaped off the steps of my front door and ran through the wet mud while a breeze swept me up the crispy, golden hill. As I came closer to the wooden door, I rang the rectangular doorbell. Breathlessly, I rang it about ten times because no one would answer. I felt adrenaline lurching through my impatient body. I didn’t know why I had this feeling, but I think it was because of the butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Was I nervous? I waited, and waited, and waited. It seemed like forever but really only five seconds had passed, and I heard a creek. I looked up to twelve tiny brown eyes starring at me with startled expressions. I don’t know if the six people in front of me were staring at me like that because they’ve never seen me before, or because my hair was sticking up in all different directions. I had a runny nose, with my lips being cold and red. I just returned from the swamp, so I was covered in mud from head to toe, and to make it even worse, I was barefoot with an old, ripped up, drooled on towel in my muddy hands! Now that I think about it, no wonder these new neighbors thought I was weird way back then. As I started saying, “Nice to meet you,” something hit the sunlight. Beams of glitter flew everywhere. I rushed in the door, passed this strange family I’d never met before and went straight to what I wanted most. Toys, everywhere. I was in heaven! This was the very first experience I encountered with my neighbors.


Throughout the nine years Mary and I have spent together, a lot of things have happened. We’ve changed for the better and for the worse. In elementary school we were in the same classes for second, third, fourth, and fifth grade. We were the luckiest kids in school! In second grade we were in our own band together. We were called the
“Rappies”. We would perform once a week to our class. I would be the beat boxer and Mary would be the singer. In third and forth grade it was still just Mary and I with no other close friends. But in fifth grade we had more friends so we weren’t as close as we use to be. But we were still the best of friends that we always were.



As we entered a much bigger and harder school, Webster, we went our separate ways. Mary was on 6-2 and I was on 6-1. At first, we blamed the school for us not being as good of friends because the two different teams kept us apart. As the first month went on, it started becoming more of our fault that we were drifting away from each other. Middle school was a completely different world for us. We were always best friends, but if you didn’t know us that well you wouldn’t even know we were friends in the sixth grade. Mary and I had the same social group of friends, but we never really hung out with the same people at the very same time. We also never talked during lunch or had any of the same classes together. But when we stepped out of the school’s doors, a switch turned on inside of us, and we became best friends again. We would be at each others house everyday or on the phone until midnight. One way or another we would talk for hours about the most random things. In seventh grade, school didn’t keep us apart. Everything changed, we were inseparable! We became just like sisters, again.


If you looked at Mary on the outside you’d just see an average thirteen year old girl with dark brown eyes and long blonde hair. If you only judged her by the looks, you really wouldn’t know how honest she is, or that she’s the only person I trust, and she is the funniest person I have ever met by making me laugh at the silliest things everyday. She truly is my best friend inside and out.



I’ve had many memories with Mary that will be with me forever. From changing our last names to BILLIPS when we first met, to watching the flappy part on Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It’s not the funny jokes or things we’ve done together that I remember most. It’s the little things Mary has done for me that make her my best friend. For example, when I broke my foot she made me a cake to make me feel better. She also made me a huge homemade card for my fifth grade birthday that I still have. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever given to me. I could go on forever and ever writing about all the nice things she’s done for me, but then I would be the one responsible for the extinction of trees.



Mary will always be my best friend no matter what, forever and always. Best friends forever.