How To Get To Narnia: Growing Up With My Best Friend
We meet a lot of people. Some of them become a huge part of our lives. So, significantly that it feels like you’ve always known each other. A best friend is one of them. You are both there for each other through the ups and downs. You’ve shared similar and different fears and worries. When you’re young, there is an adventure you both want to embark on. Growing up is just a part of that story.
How To Get To Narnia: Growing Up With My Best Friend
Meet my best friend
“Go for it.”
It was what always comes out of my best friend’s mouth when someone would approach her about a situation. Everyone knew her because she was always the one jumping in the corridors and laughing so boisterously. Right after, she would either run away or attempt to look innocent when a teacher would pass by. She wasn’t a troublemaker. She was just always so energetic.
When she smiles, her whole face lights up. When she embraced people, her arms would squeeze you tight. She hugged as if she wanted both of your problems to disappear.
People who didn’t know her tended to shy away or give looks that would make anyone think twice about doing something. I always thought my best friend was different. I used to think that she didn’t care about what anyone said.
Seeing a different side
We were in fifth grade when we started to call each other frequently on the phone. We would talk for hours on end. As we grew older, I didn’t expect that we’d become closer but we did and I realized that the image of her that I’ve built all those years ago was far from who I was seeing now.
She was still bubbly and loud. She tended to speak her mind about absurd things and danced like no one else was watching. However, when people gave her those looks, I’d see the slight change in her smile.
Seeing her cry that one time pulled at my heart. She always seemed to be like the sun. I realized then that even such a big star, which gives light and warmth, would have to rest.
Bonding over Narnia
Up until now, I can’t remember how it began. Maybe it was all those years ago when we would refuse to hang up the telephone. It could be during those times that we held each other as we cried over the smallest of things.
Maybe it was in the seventh grade when she borrowed my Narnia books and told me that she would love to go there someday, even if it was non-existent. Maybe it’s because we both refused to believe that it wasn’t. I never bothered to ask her if she remembers but what good would it do? She always claims that she has a poor memory.
My best friend and I as polar opposites
“I don’t know,” she would always say to me.
If I didn’t know her, she would have irked me growing up. I liked assurance and I worry over everything. Meanwhile, my best friend would dive headfirst into situations without a second thought. I wanted silence but she couldn’t stand it.
It was how we’d get caught by the teacher sometimes because neither of us could keep our mouths shut, arguing about keeping quiet and talking. We were complete opposites and yet, we liked similar things.
“Go for it,” she would encourage.
“But it’s stupid,” I would counter, trying to back away.
She would still push me forward.
Growing apart and coming together
We studied apart during senior high school. Different schools and schedules clashed, and we were a city apart.
She hugged me that day we met again and I missed how her arms would squeeze my sides. She cried. It was difficult because we were in a public place and my eyes were already watering. It had been a long time and I realized that there had really been a distance between us.
She and I talked for hours and would hug randomly as if either of us was going to vanish suddenly. I consoled her about her problems and she returned it by listening to mine. It was routine. It was tradition. We both missed it.
When she said she was going to join a bazaar for school. I told her, “Go for it.”
“Go for it” was support. It was her line. It was a push towards the things that we thought would be good for each other.
How we can get to Narnia
I came home around eight that night and just sat by our window, looking up at the million stars. At that moment, I liked the idea that those stars are also what my best friend sees.
I don’t know how we met in the first place or why we became best friends but what I do know is that she’s been in my life for sixteen years now and we still haven’t found Narnia together. Maybe we won’t. We’ll probably grow old, learning that we have only this world we’re living in. Maybe by that time, we’ll be sitting in our rocking chairs, arguing back and forth on what’s the best way to get to Narnia. And, that’s not so bad.
I haven’t expressed that notion to her yet. I hardly think that she’ll care unless we can really come up with a way to get to Narnia. Guess we’ll both just go for it.
