Member-only story
I’m Nobody’s Best Friend
And I don’t have one either
When I was a kid, I wanted a best friend. In school, everybody had one. Even within my group of friends, you could tell that there were always two people who were particularly close. We knew who was best friends with whom. There were five of us and I was never anyone’s best friend. I certainly considered many people to be my best friend at various times during my childhood and adolescence, mostly because I was so desperate for one. I anticipated that feeling on the first day of school, every year, every semester. I kept thinking this was the year. And granted, I had many friends whom I loved dearly, but none of them really stood out as ‘the one’.
In high school, I finally got my wish. I had a friend who, looking back, was the closest friend I had during my formative years. She told me she considered me to be her best friend as well. We did everything together; The summer holidays were always great when she was around. We had so much fun and would always remind each other and everyone else that we were best friends.
That was the one and only time when it mutual. We kept in touch when I moved to London and we would see each other during the Christmas holidays, but our friendship sort of faded over the years. Distance, no doubt, played a part.
