I was told to write this

about a friend I admire.
Hard to do,
when I have more than enough to choose from.

So allow me to exemplify my predicament
in the only way I can:

Sophia’s the sweetheart with an unbounded love for animals.
She’ll sit with me and
we’ll talk about Supernatural until our throats dry up. And she’ll stand with me, waiting for half an hour

in windy 42o weather
for my bus to come,
just so I won’t feel alone.

Dianne is fiery,
tough and witty,
and she refuses to give up on Doctor Who, even though we all know it’s gotten pretty bad.
Her faith is unwavering,
and she’s always ready
to debunk a plot hole
or argue about why regular Coke
is better than Diet.

Mayra is strong in ways
I didn’t know were possible,
and in ten minutes she’ll convince you that she’s from Wales,
married to four different KPop stars, and owns a large alpaca.
In other words, girl can lie.
But she spends most of her time smiling and speaking in soft tones, assuring you of her unwavering loyalty.

Jenn is always half-asleep;
she even brings a Snuggie with her

on the bus.
She loves to read,
runs our Book Club at school,
which is mostly just our friend group,
but she never stops trying to expand it. She’s sassy, and can make you laugh
when you need it most.
One time, we chased a cat and ate brownies, constantly on an adventure.

Noémi (Mimi, according to me)
is the human embodiment of Stewie from Family Guy.
She can insult you and praise you
in the same sentence,
and is always keeping tabs on you:
she can read a change of diet
or family troubles
in your expression,
and help you talk about it
without making you feel the raw exposure of telling someone the truth.

Sophie has careful eyes
and everyone loves her, sometimes so much
that it makes her want to run. But she doesn’t.

She sticks around and makes ridiculous films with you, has popcorn fights with you, and never lets you fall.

Yasmin lives on the other side of the equator, but our friendship is set in bone.
She is calm, driven,
easy with guided judgement,

and she can draw like no other.
Her sweetness is effusive,
pouring out of her and drawing you close; I can sit in silence with her
for hours
and never feel alone.

Sage is spunky as all hell, eight feet of personality
in a little over five feet of girl. She’s a dancer,
and speaks just as loudly

with her movements.
She’s always ready to do
whatever it takes to have fun,
and never stops being there for you.

Shishi is everyone’s favorite person,
and she’s probably one of the bravest people
I know, because
she was able to declare her love to a world
that could have rejected her
(a fear I know she won’t voice),
and now she’s beyond happy,
and I ship her and her girlfriend
harder than I ship Destiel.
She’s funny, unique, artistic to a fault –
and her self-confidence is something to be admired. I’ve always known that I’m not her best friend,
but I know that I’ll always try to keep her
as one of mine.

And Maria is beyond intelligent –
seriously, it’s scary –
and so creative she could burst.
She writes as a past-time and dreams of space, even though I plan to hire her

as my own personal editor.
She has unwavering faith in dragons and the talents of those around her. She never stops believing in us, believing in the “fictional” worlds that writers teach us to be true.

So you see,
I can never choose.
It’s not simple.
Friendship never is.
But I am beyond lucky to have these girls in my life. I dread to think what life would be like
without them
(pretty damn awful, probably).

I will never stop admiring them,
and I will never stop wishing that I could be more like them.

It would be an honor.

 Emilycollage

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