2 weeks before I turned 12 years old, a skinny little 5-foot-tall, 11-year-old blond boy with a bowl-cut walked into my life.  He was extremely awkward.  My friends all decided to pick on him.  But I know how awful it is to be bullied...I had to leave my school once because of it.  So my friends all left me for not joining in, and I guess that's how I became friends with that little bowl-cut boy.  He was extremely awkward.  But hey, I was too.  What they failed to see is that he was also very talented and kind.

That little boy turns sixteen in 6 days.  He is now 6 feet tall and his bowl cut days are long gone, but sometimes when I look at him, I still see that same little 11 year old.  We still laugh at some of the same jokes we laughed at in middle school.  We still sing stupid songs and split snacks like we did in middle school.  We still know all the people that bullied us in middle school, and still do all the same things that they bullied us over.  We have grown to be pretty close friends.  He has been my classmate, teammate, shoulder to lean on, and faithful friend for almost 5 years.  And I fall for him a little more each day, just like I did in middle school.  He doesn't have a clue.