My Best Friend

Most girls get to share high school with their best friends, whether or not they went to the same school. However, I didn’t get that opportunity. My best friend Chanda and I spent our high school years on the opposite ends of the world; she was in Japan and I was in Maryland. I really would have given anything to have had her with me in high school. She understood me and was never judgmental. She always made me laugh when I went through the worst. But obviously I wasn’t that lucky.

Chanda and I became best friends in the sixth grade back in Japan. We would spend every day talking about boys or stuffing our faces with potstickers. We played travel softball and volleyball together and we were even cheerleaders one year. We loved to go shopping at the Japanese malls and eat food we couldn’t identify. We did everything together; she was my other half. You could only imagine how I felt when I found out I’d be moving to the U.S.

Throughout high school, we only talked through Skype, phone calls, and mail. We made it a point to talk at least 4 times a month, sent each other packages for Christmas, birthdays, and sometimes randomly, and Skype after each big event (i.e. prom, dates, etc.). I hated high school because I didn’t have her. I didn’t have that one friend every girl went to, to tell their deepest and darkest secrets. I didn’t have that one friend that I could fully, 100% trust. High school for me, was the furthest thing from perfect.

I finally got the chance to see Chanda after 5 long years. Her family moved to Florida, so the winter break of freshman year I took a flight, by myself, to go see her. I was so ecstatic that I finally got to hug her and see her in person! I stayed there for 2 weeks; we tried to make up for lost time by never really sleeping, always going to the beach, going to Disneyland, and the usual- eating. I was more than happy to find out she hadn’t changed. She still couldn’t spell to save her life, she’s still really short, has a weird sense of humor that still makes me laugh, and she’s still that one person that understands I am the way I am.