Two 'Wallflowers' and An Awkward Barrier....

Since my last post, I've been thinking a lot about silence, but not only along the 'cow' train of thought. So......... I'm dedicating this blog entry to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Joelle :D I'll bet you anything that when she reads this she will start laughing, and probably get mad at me the next day at school, but oh well. She deserves this, so it's worth being killed for!

Joelle and I met under interesting circumstances in seventh grade. We were both shy little sevvies who didn't have anyone to talk to during lunch. We would both wait out in the commons, hoping the bell would put an end to our little bubble of embarrassing silence in the middle of all the commotion. We always saw each other in the same spot, but would never say anything. We would pace back and forth, both trying to come up with something to say without sounding like an idiot. (Which, in junior high, is very important, especially as a seventh grader.) After over a week of this, I plucked up the courage to introduce myself.

"I'm Drue."

....and that was it. Nothing else. We smiled at each other briefly, then went back to looking at the floor. The next day was the same way. An insanely long awkward silence, and then one question. This time I asked what her name was. (little secret here that you don't even know, Joelle: I knew what your name was before I asked you :D I could see it on your lunch box, but I needed a conversation starter. haha!) When she answered, I asked her what grade she was in. (Looking back on that as a ninth grader, I can see how lame that question was. We were amongst the shortest of people there, and nobody but a sevvie could POSSIBLY look as lost and confused and lonely as we did. But like I said before, I needed conversation!) So when she said she was in seventh grade, too, I was ecstatic! Because I was one of maybe five people from Kaysville Elementary, I didn't know anyone at Fairfield. I was so excited to learn that Joelle was my age.

After a couple of days of that same kind of conversation (silence, question, smile, silence, maybe one more question....) we started to branch off to different topics, such as classes and family and such. I'm not sure how long it took, but eventually we started getting whole conversations in. (WHOLE CONVERSATIONS! NOT JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS SPREAD THROUGHOUT A WEEK!) Some how we got talking about birthdays. This is where it starts getting really weird: we have the same birthday. And I'm not talking a year apart. I mean we were born within hours of each other.

I think that's what really broke that awkward barrier. We would start giggling and talking with more enthusiasm. Aren't books wonderful? What books have you read? Have you read *insert book title here*? Aren't boys so annoying? How many boys are in your family?....... And we would go on and on.

I remember writing several journal entries around that time: I'm so glad I have Joelle to talk to.... She's exactly the kind of friend I've been wishing for.... I've been so lonely and now I have someone to sit with at lunch.... I found out today that Joelle and I have the same birthday! How crazy is that? I wonder what other similarities we'll find! Maybe we're really twins that were separated at birth. Well, except for the fact that we look NOTHING alike..... There were many entries like that. That sort of gives you an idea of how excited I was. Every day I would come home and tell my family what Joelle and I had talked about.

Jello, thank you for your friendship! :) Throughout french class, Yearbook, 8th grade english, girl's choir, and all of our after school adventures, your friendship has meant the world to me! I would never have gotten through school without you there to laugh through it all with me, especially 7th grade! Thank you for everything! May you find your Mr. Ferris and live your life to the fullest! ;)