Just a quick little shout out to my best friend of 8 years whose birthday is today! I met Obie when I was just 15 years old and he was 17, and I can’t believe that he’s now 25 years old. In honor of his birthday, I wanted to share 25 things that randomly pop up in my head about him and our very long friendship, but for the sake of time and my poor fingers that will literally be writing this all day, here are 10 things about it! 😀
- The first day of my sophomore year, I had third-period Physics with a bunch of seniors (I was really good in science). Anyway, my teacher had asked the class what “E=mc²” was, and when I raised my hand to answer it, Obie had looked at me and said, “okay, Liz!” At this time, Obie only knew me briefly; we unofficially met in a math class I had my freshman year but after that little encounter…
- … We became friends because we sang in the same choir. In my All About 2010 post, I explain that I was in Performing Choir for the first time and it holds a special place in my heart because it’s where Obie and I officially became friends. Our choir was intense; we had after-school rehearsals for shows that we were going to do, and we traveled to a lot of places to perform. You can say we spent a lot of time together, and we just became close because of it.
- Back to physics: when we became official friends, I helped him out with physics whenever he didn’t get or understand something. During one test, I allowed Obie to copy some answers on my test and when our teacher caught him, he practically begged him to just penalize him and not me. I found it quite endearing that he would take full blame. That’s when I was like “alright, I fuck with you. You’re cool beans.” On another occasion, I had completed pages and pages of extra credit homework he had to do or else he wouldn’t graduate on time. Let’s just say we had each other’s backs hardbody. (And still do, under other circumstances).
- He is a man of many talents. Not only was he a baritone in Performing Choir, but he also ran his own dance group, Bad Intentionz, and created the choreography for it. I told him back then that his true calling was dancing and teaching it. He denied it. 8 years later, and now he teaches dance to middle school kids. I always knew it was his calling.
- He once watched me down an entire Big Mac on a coach bus on our way home from a performance. It’s not as dirty as it sounds. Literally, I was eating a Big Mac and he turned around from his seat and watched me eat it. I asked him afterward why would he even want to see me do so, and he responded with “you’re such a little girl with little hands; it was cute seeing you eat.” Eight years later, and he says the same thing whenever we eat together.
- In a turn of events, he was my first kiss. I was a 15-year-old girl surrounded by girls with boyfriends and who had their first kiss checked off their bucket lists. Me? I didn’t have anything checked off from mine. I always dreamt about how mine would be like and how special I wanted it to be. When I met Obie and started to get close to him, I became attracted to him (I used to have this thing where if boys used to give me the time of day and be my best friend I would instantly fall for them, hence why I had so many crushed in elementary and middle school). Obie felt different, and something in me was telling me to go for it whenever I had the chance, and I did. Most girls look back at their first kiss and cringe because it was with some boy that they never liked or did it just for the sake of doing it. I still don’t regret mine.
- Because I had this little crush on him in high-school, I use to be really eager to leave my English class just so that I saw him leave his government class a few doors down. It’s funny, because one time, I got out of class to go to my next one, and when we both met up in the hallway, he took me to find his boy that kept on bothering me at lunch. In the middle of the hallway, he was telling this boy off and telling him to leave me alone, and one of my friends passed by us and went “is that him?” Man as nervous and anxious I was then, it was cute of him to do so.
- So, Obie was actually at my high-school prom, and not as my date. He was dating a girl at the time and came as her date, but I was so excited for him to be there and experience my prom with me. Occasionally we danced (I remember dancing to “Beez in the Trap” by Nicki Minaj with him, which I don’t even know why we chose that song to dance to) but it was insanely fun and possibly one of the “few” highlights of my senior Prom. Spoiler: most of it sucked.
- I’m a girl who is constantly evolving. I learn from my mistakes and I try to become better out of them, but in the process, I’ve lost best friends who couldn’t handle my transitions. Obie has been my best friend for 8 years for a reason, and it’s not because I’ve had this strong attraction to him. Obie is a great example of a friend. When you know a person will always have your back whenever you fall down, you know that person is a good friend. I realized that about him when…
- … I fell into a major depression 5 years ago. As mentioned in my All About 2012 post, I was not in the right mind space. I’ve lost friends due to rumors and gossip, and despite it all, Obie never really left my side. There was damage made on both sides of our friendship, but he never thought about leaving me. Every year on our friendaversary, I thank him for never giving up on me because everyone in my life has given up on me at one point, and it’s a blessing to have someone who didn’t, and won’t.
Of course, I have 8 years worth of stuff to write about, but some of it is better left for us to laugh and cringe about. I’ve honestly watched him grow up into the man he is today, and the transformation (and glo’ up) have been surreal. There’s still so much left to learn about each other, and so many adventures to have and memories to make, so hey – here’s to 8 years of an amazing friendship, and 25 years of an amazing person.
Have a great day, Gemini! >:]
-Liz (:
Letters From Liz. 