My teacher, with her big mouth, noticed the other girl beside me and remarked, "Oh my, look how much alike they look! They could be twins!" The kids behind me began giggling and whispering. I glared at the teacher, hating her for sealing my doom. For the rest of the school year, I had to endure remarks such as "There’s your twin. Why don’t you sit with her?" and "Your twin is on the swings; why don’t you join her?" We became known as the "Fat Twins", a label that tortured me throughout the year. Finally, school ended and summer began.
I forgot about my "twin" during the summer, but when it was time for school to begin, I started dreading the inevitable. The first day of school brought my worst nightmare to life: my "twin" was in the same class with me. And, after placing us in alphabetical order, she ended up sitting to the left and forward of me. I would get to stare at the back of her head. Oh goody.
The first week of school passed. During the second week, another teacher called our teacher out into the hall. This made him late to the Math portion of the day, a concept the class was ready to enjoy. I didn’t like this teacher at all; he was so boring, and he went off on tangents about his farm in the middle of a lesson. I made a comment out loud about it, under my breath, and my "twin" turned around. She was glaring at me, the same way I glare at others if they talk about me behind my back. "What?" she said. I frowned and repeated myself. She looked surprised for a second, then broke out into giggles. I laughed too, as she made her own comment. We sat together at lunch that day and every day for the rest of the school year. By the time Christmas rolled around, we had proclaimed each other as Best Friends.
During sixth and seventh grade we had an incredibly good time. Even when we met with several difficulties, we stuck together. We even had our own mascots: the once world famous New Kids On The Block. (You better not be laughing!!) We used to lie on her bed, fantasizing about meeting them and running away with them. I loved (and still love) Joe MacIntyre and she had a thing for both Jordon and Jonathan Knight.
At the end of seventh grade, Tanya’s father was leaving the Air Force. He had found a job in a town five and half-hours away. Tanya’s move was hard for me. I began to wonder if our friendship was strong enough to survive it.
Then the letters began. I had to wait to get one from her first, because they weren’t sure of their new address. I received one a few days later. Immediately after reading it, I sat down and wrote one back. During the school year, we made plans for her to come and stay with us for a couple days. When spring break started, my family went and got her. We acted as if we hadn’t seen each other in forever. We stayed up until two in the morning, talking endlessly. The second night, we laughed so hard, she had to get her inhaler, yet it didn’t help. She tried all the tricks she knew, but it soon became apparent that she was having an asthma attack. We woke my parents and they took us to the hospital. The diagnosis was that she had severe pneumonia. We called her parents and they said that they would be there as fast as they could. Mom let me say goodbye, then took me home. I slept fitfully. The next day, mom took me to Wal~Mart and let me pick out a get-well gift for Tanya. I chose a large gorilla with a banana in its hand. She loved it. Her parents took her home when she was released.
By the time eighth grade (which was at Altus Junior High, yes there was a middle school and a junior high LOL) ended, my father retired from the Air Force. Of all the places we had discussed, he chose Ohio to live. We moved shortly after the end of the school year and lived with some relatives in Toledo for several months. I once again started at a new school, at Van Buren Junior High. This time it was ninth grade. After that year, which was interesting in its own way, I went to Fairmont High School for the rest of high school. During my sophomore year, I received a letter from Tanya that made me exclaim in joy. Tanya’s father had found a better job; in Michigan! They were moving there! I was ecstatic. It’s much easier to visit Michigan from Ohio, than it is to go all the way to Oklahoma, ya know.
Later, after our eleventh year of school, I was able to go visit Tanya for a week. We were amazed at how much we still looked alike. Our hair was different lengths, but everything else was basically the same as it had been. We embraced each other, remarking about how great it was to see each other. She helped me carry my things up to her room. She ran over to her bed and pulled something out of the corner. "Look," she cried, holding up a stuffed animal. It was the gorilla I had bought for her all those years back. I laughed and pulled my best friend necklace out of my pocket. She laughed and we started reminiscing about all the stuff we had done as kids. She had just had her birthday a week or so before my visit, so she continuously referred to me as a child. She was seventeen, and my birthday wasn’t for two months. We talked about our next school year, amazed that we were going to be seniors in high school.
Later, after our eleventh year of school, I was able to go visit Tanya for a week. That was a ton of fun, and sometime soon I’ll get some pictures up. We started our Senior year that fall, and graduation came all too soon. I was even able to go up to her graduation!
More to be added soon!!