The Freshman Experiment

Music: The Twilight Singers - Underneath The Waves

Last night the three other girls who make up our entire “group” were finally home from researching at college, camp, or vacation. We gathered at Spaz’s house, the new one she’s been moving into all summer. We’ve all been hoping that her parents would change their minds and stay at her old house because it’s where the four of us would spend the most time, especially in her backyard. It’s jampacked with little moments of us eating Chinese food on her hammock, sitting around her dining room table laughing at nothing, and trading book recommendations on her front porch. It was strange and upsetting to unpack her things and put up old pictures on new walls.

The cardboard boxes and piles of duct tape were obnoxiously literal signs that we’re moving on. Pretty soon we got tired of staying inside so we grabbed a bottle of vodka and ran down the street to Spaz’s old house. We sat cross-legged on her overgrown grass and chased our alcohol with Gatorade and orange juice. The conversation traveled back to college, of course, and how strange it is to know that we’ve put an entire year between us and high school. I’ve never seen half of the kids who go there now, and by this time next year, my old high school will be filled with new kids who have probably never heard my name. And while I’m eager to get back to LAC and see all of my friends, I’m getting jealous of all the new freshman with Facebook statuses saying “So-and-so is packing for her first year of college!” or Mizzie’s exuberant post on the forum. A small part of me wishes I could travel back to this time last August when I had all those nervous, anxious feelings.

Drunk on poorly-mixed drinks and our own conversation, we walked around the neighborhood for awhile. We started talking to each other, at each other, over each other. It was a mess of sloppy words and a desperate need to tell one another that this summer was incredible - that our friendships are incredible.

I can’t say this about everyone, but although the four of us were certainly changed by our freshmen year, we managed to grow up and grow towards each other.