Assignment: Describe your relationships with the opposite sex. (Friendships, romances, awkwardness, comfort) Must be a half page in length. Check for spelling errors. Punctuation will not be graded. Worth 20 points (WRITING)


Since when have we really known each other? Since when did we ever consider our relationship a friendship, if we ever even did at all? Since when were you the one I turned to when I had a joke in mind, knowing that you would always know my sense of humor? Since when did I know I could trust you? Since when did I begin to really dislike you? Since when did things begin to get better between us?

I remember in fourth grade I first found out that you even existed. I think it was then that I first began to get to know you. You began to be more than just another one of the boys in my grade.

In fifth grade we ended up being in the same class. You turned out to be someone I would hang out with during recess. You turned out to be someone I would laugh with. You turned out to be someone who could always bring a smile to my face with one of your silly antics. Meanwhile I became someone who would be there for you when your other friends turn their backs on you.

In sixth grade we had a lot of classes together and we would walk home together. We rose to the top of our class in band, two starring trumpet players who enjoyed playing duets together. We laughed together even more than before, our humor reflecting each other's. We shared our down times together too. I stayed by your side when you cried and when there was no one else around who cared, and you did the same for me. You knew you could trust me, and I knew I could trust you.


At least, that's what I used to think anyway. Seventh grade came. We were still playing trumpet together, but now we were getting competitive for the position of lead trumpet in band. We began to find other friends, our different choice in "crowd" becoming more defined as the days passed. We stopped walking home together a lot of the time. Instead we walked home with our new friends. And slowly, though I hardly realized it at the time, you were becoming a stranger I didn't know all over again.

Suddenly eighth grade crept up on us and smacked us like a hard slap in the face. I auditioned and made it to the best band in California. You got kicked out of your private lessons by one of the best trumpet teachers around. I became more girly and took up an interest in manga and anime. You wanted to prove yourself as a male and took up daring activities. I cowered under the superiority of adults and became a shy, goody-two-shoes kind of person. You did just the opposite and went against the rules, your silly antics from before evolving into cries of attention and defiance.

Then you found out that there was someone - that was not yourself - that I liked and everything changed. It was so sudden, too sudden for me to accept right away.

Now you made crude comments to me. The jokes we shared became a thing of the past. And from there we only drifted farther and farther away. I sided with the guy I liked, despite the facts of a situation that really made you the innocent one. You continued to insult me for it. Though I know you probably didn't mean half of them, I grew extremely defensive. You didn't know how to handle things, and to be frank, neither did I. An angry feud flared between us. In band class, the class we used to share so many good memories in, we strived to outshine one another. You dragged me into your rebellion against authority by blaming problems you caused on me. I scarred you with the girl's choice of weapon: words. I learned to become so cunning with words that I was able to twist them like a knife into you, and I knew it.

I think that it was in that small time from the entire time that we'd known each other, that I began to really dislike you.

That next fall, high school greeted us and threw us into its chaos. Though we were still in band together, our worlds never overlapped as you continued with trumpet and I began Color Guard. I became too obsessed with Color Guard and devoted all my time and energy to it. The only time I would spare was for my school work, eating and sleeping. I ended up breaking it off with that guy I liked from eighth grade too (It had been a naive relationship). Throughout the entirety of freshmen year I never really saw or talked to you at all. The world had just seemed to get bigger both socially and school wise, and I was okay with that.

Then sometime early during sophomore year, I was looking through my eighth grade yearbook and found your signature. It was short and merely said "Sorry about this year and all the things I did." This... shocked me. I started to think back to the boy I used to know. I started to remember the person I'd been so close to. I started to realize I actually missed that friendship.

For a good portion of my first semester as a sophomore I was struggling with other aspects of my life as well. Everything from my health to my grades seemed to be slipping. Everything was a mess. So one day when I happened to pass by you in the hall, I figured, "What the hell. What more do I have to lose?" I started a trivial conversation with you, the contents of which I don't remember now. However, I do remember my last couple of words being: "I'm sorry for being such a b**** in eighth grade."

You laughed. It was a kind and forgiving sound. You shrugged the matter off and said "Nah, don't worry about it. You've changed a lot since then."

In in that simple exchange, I knew then that things between us were going to get better. Time had allowed us to grow up a bit and mature. Our apologies were finally out, and we could forgive each other. I knew that we were going to become friends again. And in fact, by the end of sophomore year, we did.

You probably didn't hear me as you walked off that day in the hallway, but after you said to me "You've changed a lot since then," I responded with a smile "So have you."