I'm not the kind of person that believes in second chances. People show their true colors and although they may apologize, I believe there is still that slight chance that they will turn their back on you and stab it, just like the first time. Forgiving AND forgetting are usually never on my agenda because, honestly, who really changes and deserves a second chance?
But there was something different in this situation.
I met one of my best friends my freshman year of high school when I was the new girl and desperate for friendships with some commonality. By the end of the school year, we naturally drifted apart. We were simply on different paths and wanted more with our lives. We couldn't see our futures together and we did not need each other at that moment.
Luckily for me, senior year gave me the second chance to rekindle the friendship, although I did not know it yet. She showed up in my gym class and we barely talked before then. All of a sudden, our friend groups combined. We decided that three years is a long time and we both had moved on from our freshman year states because, as we all know, a lot happens in high school.
At first it was super awkward. I mean SUPER awkward. Like we really couldn't be alone together because what could we talk about besides our freshman year obsession with One Direction? Then all of a sudden, we both decided to break that barrier and I have not looked back since then.
You never really understand the moment when you find your best friend until you are sitting alone in your dorm bathroom sobbing because you have no friends and they are the first person you decide to reach out to. You don't understand the meaning of friendship until you are literally bouncing off the walls because you are so excited to see them again. You never really grasp friendship until you can talk to someone every single day with absolutely no boundaries and know in your heart that they will not tell another soul because your relationship is so special. They tell you that they miss you and actually mean it.
That is how I knew that I should start believing in second chances. Maybe they are here for a reason. Maybe they will allow us to pick back up where we started. Maybe there is such a thing as forgiving AND forgetting, because you never truly know what you can get out of it. I learned that sometimes, it's worth it to take one of the walls we have built up so high and knock it down a few feet. Lucky for me, I got a person that I can treasure forever out of such a new and wonderful experience for myself.
And to those reading this and thinking that second chances are dumb and you will just get hurt again, give someone a chance. You never know, they could end up being someone that was far too valuable to be with you when they separated and that you could come to appreciate later on and, hopefully, forever.
