From the beginning

Life of an average, middle class American girl.

My parents moved my brother and I from mid-sized city to small town USA in 1993, I was 12 and not at all happy about it. I was going from a school with over 1000 students and more hallways and stairwells then I could count to one with 300 students, 2 hallways and and 2 sets of stairs. I was leaving my best friends, the girls I'd been in school with since Kindergarten. Yes, there was that time that Kelly told the boy I liked just how cute I thought he was and when he laughed she rehashed every embarrassing detail for the whole class to hear. And okay, there was that time that we got caught drinking Mad Dog on the way home from school. My best friend at school did make fun of my hair, my clothes, my boobs...or lack there of...but that's what friends did, right? At any rate, I had no choice, I was moving. My schemes of taking down the for sale sign in front of our house and refusing to clean my room for showings didn't work. I was leaving my big house on the corner in the neighborhood I knew like the back of my hand for places unknown, in to a house that didn't even have a McDonald's near by.

I sat down the first day of 7th grade feeling nervous and scared of all these new people with their matching clothes, right down to their socks, perfect hair and friends they've known since birth. How would I ever fit in, sporting my thrift store clothes, curly red hair with big bangs and fake nails. Why oh why did I wear the fake nails?

As I sat there that wishing I could crawl under the table and hide, 3 boys came over to introduce themselves. I could feel my face turn bright red and I secretly damned my pale skin and Irish background for giving me away. I choked out my name and answered their questions of where I moved from and what class I had next. I found out later that Bryan, Adam and Chad were three of the most popular boys in school. I, being the new girl, merited their attention that morning. I was sort of like a freak on display at the circus. In a school this small, new kids were a big deal. That was essentially the most contact I ever had with those 3 and while at times maybe it made me feel inadequate, I was never really meant for the popular crowd. I, simply put, wasn't that girl.

I somehow made it through the day, although the fake nails were not so lucky. As each hour would pass, I'd chew off yet another piece of plastic. By the end of the day I was hiding my hands in my lap and beneath my books to keep from anyone commenting on the bits of pink still stuck to my real nails with super glue.

At the end of the day I got on the bus, the only time in my life I'd had to ride a bus from school, and headed "down town". Down town really isn't much, it consists of a library, post office, car dealership, ice cream stand and a few other stores along the tree lined street. Yes, one street. You see, we hadn't moved into our new house yet so each morning my dad would drive the 30 minutes from our old house to our new school and drop us off. He would then turn and drive 45 minutes in the opposite direction to work. Each day after school we'd get dropped off at the library with our food money in hand and wait the 3 hours until my dad would come get us after work. We did this for 3 weeks, 3 very long weeks.

My brother was 16 and cursed this new town even more then I did. He clashed even more then I did, with his baggy bright orange pants to 3 sizes too big shirt. At his old school, he would have just blended in, but here, he was a 5' 5" 16 year old boy with bright red hair. He was quickly nicknamed Chilly Willy, something he did not take kindly to. We rehashed our first days, him plotting how to get out of school the next day and me just hoping to survive un-noticed.

What I didn't know is that on that first day of school in that small town I cursed my parents for moving me to, I would meet some of the greatest girls I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. They changed my life and looking back 16 years later, I wouldn't change anything that happened.
This is our story, the parts I can remember and retell without incriminating us too much. The good, the bad and the ugly, from the beginning.