Some people come into your life like they have always been there. My friend Kolette is one of those people. The first time we hung out she came over to my house and we played in the pond. We got in the water and went down the little waterfall like a slide. We both had our clothes on but neither of us cared. It was utter delight. After we went down the waterfall ten times each we explored and jumped rock to rock, balancing with 7 year old grace. Then we climbed the tree I always climb but she could climb she as good as me. It was awesome! After that we didn’t hang out again until middle school but we both still remember that first time.

In sixth grade Kolette invited me to her birthday sleepover with all of her other friends. I remember being nervous and her Mom was cracking jokes to lighten me up. Her name was Shana and she made me laugh. Just like Kolette does. I could see where Kolette got it. I just remember being so grateful to be there. I had wanted to be friends but I was too shy to ask her to hang out. That night we watched Stand By Me with Hanna, Miranda, Jo, Missy, Kolette and I. Hanna knew the movie by heart so she showed off and said all the lines. They all were obsessed with River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain. Kurt had just died. Nirvana was the coolest. So was this movie. I wanted to savor this moment. I ate cheese curls and drank pepsi and just soaked it in. This is what it feels like to be my age and not have to do chores after school and on the weekends. I loved it. Her house became my home away from home after this party. I loved having a place to go and get away from my family drama. We started hanging out all the time. I laughed so hard when I was with Kolette we always joked we were getting abs of steel from it.

One day our senior year I asked Kolette if her boyfriend Tim might smoke me up. I had never smoked before and my Mom and I talked about how I should try it before I go off to college. Funny right. Since I was anxious about it I thought it would be best to smoke with her and Tim–people I feel really safe with. Tim was a sweet gentle guy with long blonde hair and played the bass, loved snapples, and was always wearing converse all-stars. He looked kind of like a young Kurt Cobain without the scruff. He was honored to be the one to smoke me up. It was sweet he cared. I was ready. Kolette was worrying, “I can’t believe you are going to smoke Collige–you are so pure I don’t want to corrupt you!” “Don’t worry Kolette! I am so lucky to be with you guys for my first time. This is really special to me.” I reassured. Once I smoked I remember we went to the freezer and raided the popsicles. I remember the popsicle was so good. That’s all I really remember. The weed wasn’t very strong so I only got a little giggly. But I will always remember this as one of my favorite memories with Kolette and Tim.