I always remember the first day of freshmen soccer. Showing up to the first practice late and completely unprepared for the hell that would be known as doubles. I remember all the seniors being nice to me since they were all friends with my older brother. I remember running that first lap around the track and being completely dead by the end. I am not nor have I ever considered myself athletic whatsoever and that day only proved my point true. But the other thing I always remember about that day is one little conversation with my best friend John, which I love to constantly remind him of, “Hi John, how was your summer? I asked. “Hey, what’s your name again?” he replied. And no that was not the first time we met… Did I mention that he’s my best friend?

Well obviously back then we were not as close as we are now but that was only the beginning (obviously I did not realize it back then) of a beautiful friendship. Although it did not start off the on the right foot. My freshmen year of high school was not the best year for me. We all know that feeling the first day of high school, not having any idea where anything is and being scared of all the upperclassmen and just trying to find your spot. I have been always very shy and have had a hard time meeting people. The only advantage that my first day of high school had as opposed to eighth grade was I actually had someone to sit with at lunch this time.

Although I had people to sit and talk with, the conversations were far from enjoyable, at least for me anyways. I was what you called the runt of the group. The one who was the butt of all the jokes, the one that everyone ganged up on and constantly made fun of, the one that could never seem to do anything right. Now I understand that all friends like to joke with and tease one another, but back then I was a lot more sensitive to that kind of treatment and there was always part of me that believed what they were saying was true, otherwise they wouldn’t say it.

Now John was not as bad as the others, but he did still take part in it and at that time we were not really that close. I remember one time when he tipped my chair over and made me fall out of it during our math class in front of everyone. On my birthday too. We did not hang out or see each other outside of school besides soccer. But during soccer things did begin to change between us. We talked a lot more on the bus rides to the away games, during practices, during games if we were on the bench, etc. At that point we were friends, but we weren’t that close besides soccer. That did not begin until our junior year of high school.

The summer going into my junior year had been the best summer of my life and part of that was because during that time John and I had begun to hang out a lot more besides soccer and became better friends by the time school started. My sophomore year was a disaster of a year and one that I would like to forget. After that year, I had a hard time trusting people. But it was also an experience that helped me grow a lot (but that’s a story for another paper). Going into my junior year, I had made a promise to myself to not let any of the problems that had plagued me the year before (again a story for another paper) affect me again this year. It was during that time that John had begun to go through similar issues. Typical high school drama; girl trouble. Given my experiences the year before, I knew exactly what he was dealing with and knew exactly what to tell him to help him through it. I remember the lengthy phone calls and pep talks I gave to help him through it. Who would have thought that that was only the beginning?

I remember during our SATs when he showed up late and by the end of was very upset. I asked him what was wrong and he told me how his sister had just gotten married and had moved out with her new husband. He is very close to his sisters so I understood how hard it was for him. After that, I brought him back to my house and we hung out the whole day and since then we have been the best of friends. And it seemed like, after that, things began to turn around for him. He was more confident and broke out of his shell and by the end of our junior year even had a girlfriend. I grew a lot that year too and it is because of my friendship with him that I began to trust people again and I can say that I trust him more than anyone I know.

Since then we have become as close as brothers. He’s told me on many occasions that growing up being the only boy with two sisters that I am the brother that he never had. And he will always be my little brother even if we are not blood. We have always had each other’s backs and are each other’s voice of reason. He is my go-to person for anything that is on my mind whether it’s good or bad I know that I can always go to him for a second opinion and he will always be straight forward with me and vice versa. I have seen him at his worst and he’s seen me at my worst. I remember the hell it was helping him get through his breakup with his ex-girlfriend and the amount of time we spent together during that time. Even now I am still helping him adjust to his situation at his new school. As much as he may annoy me on occasions, we will always be best friends through whatever else life will throw at us and at the end of it all we will brothers. Even if he isn’t blood, he is my brother and always will be.