This morning I woke up and my hair was so static it was ridiculous. It was either stuck up straight, or plastered to my face! So as I attempted to straighten my hair, I started thinking about how it’s the little things that matter in a friendship. It’s not knowing what their favorite color is; it’s knowing which way they want to be held. It’s not knowing where they want to go to school, its understanding when they just need someone on the other end of the phone, even when no one is talking. It’s not the stuff that could be filed away in a folder somewhere, to be read by a complete stranger. It’s the things you know by instinct. Its knowing when it’s ok to joke around, or play with their hair. It’s knowing if words are just fun to say, or if they are acting as safety words. Its knowing how to make you smile, even you’ve been in tears in hours. It’s knowing when something is wrong, even when you’re doing your best to convince them everything is great- and the people around you believe it. Its knowing how to convince them it’s ok to open their heart, even when the world teaches them to hide the hurt in their eyes. Real friendship is not being able to hide, because you’re so connected that if you try, a true friend’s instincts will reveal the truth. So as I sat and thought about all this, and the amazing friends I have in my life, I looked at my lopsided pigtails, which I had tried four times to correct, and I decided to leave them lopsided, to let the imperfectness reflect in the form of me, and also to remind myself, and maybe others, that life can still be happy, even when things don’t turn out exactly how you want. This will certify that the above work is completely original."