Who is your best friend? Why?

 The first time we met, I hated him.

He was so loud. Obnoxious. He hardly ever had anything of importance to say. He is the sort that I am 100% sure only talks because he’s in love with his own voice.

My freshman year of high school English was riddled with his shrieking laughter and inability to keep his trap closed for more than five minutes. He was always in trouble for speaking out of turn. I loved the days that he just laid his head down and fell asleep.

The moment I actually fell in love with his friendship is kind of a bizarre tale. Our junior year, he came up to my Journalism class to eat lunch. I was busy writing an article about a foreign exchange student that recently came to our school as he talked to anybody who would listen—which I actually think was nobody at all.

Suddenly, he burst into his ridiculous laughter and the salad he had been scarfing down flew across the room.

I laughed in spite of myself. I guess that day I decided that his over-the-top demeanor was something I needed in my life.

And just like that, we were inseparable.

We walked miles around our little town, puffing away on cigarettes that we didn’t know how to inhale.We planned our lives. Failed at most of it. Laughed through every bit of it.

No matter what I’ve ever gone through, he’s been there—reminding me not to take myself so damned seriously.

For the last 10+ years we’ve been the one constant in each other’s lives. He’s harsh when I need someone to be real. He’s even learned to be quiet when I just want someone to hear me.

We catch up about once a week through quick texts or Facebook messages.

A glimpse at our typical interaction:

We only see each other about once every year or two. When we do, it’s as if no time has passed. Suddenly, we’re both 17 years old and beyond ridiculous. Everybody needs a friend like that.