One of my closest friends, whom I'll refer to as "Clara", has been one of my greatest, yet most difficult friendships. We started off as complete strangers, we were both new on my high school's field hockey team and we were all playing an ice-breaker game where we would say our name accompanied with some kind of motion like a dance move or a hand gesture so that our teammates could remember us a little more easily. She made a heart sign with her hands and I did the disco. Later during that practice we were lining up to run some laps and I noticed she was standing next to me, so I said "Hi Clara," while making the same heart sign she had made. She responded by saying "Hi Allison," as she did the disco. This was the first time we had acknowledged each other on an "I-You" level.
After that encounter Clara and I became running buddies and then shortly after became practice buddies. Whenever we needed to pair up to do something it would always be me and Clara. We started to build closeness, chatting each other up while we played field hockey. We gained each other's trust as teammates, knowing we would always have the other's back. We supported each other when we were benched for entire games, and encouraged each other while we were on the field.
Eventually we started hanging out during lunch breaks and meeting in between classes. When her birthday came around I bought her a cupcake and a balloon, brought them to school for her, and when lunch came I lit the candle on top of the cupcake for her so she could make a wish. In return she painted me a beautiful painting of a sunflower for me on my birthday, because she knew they were my favorite.
Investment after investment, Clara and I grew closer and closer until there wasn't a single thing we couldn't talk to each other about. We had regular sleep overs and after field hockey season was over, the time after school we would have spent practicing was then spent with each other doing random activities. We even started calling each other "twin" because we became so close we were practically sisters.
The biggest strain on our friendship has been the distance between us since I moved to San Jose to go to school. She stayed in our hometown and I miss her like crazy. I would say that for the most part our friendship is consistent with the dynamics of friendship described in the chapter. We invest in each other, we are emotionally close, we accept one another completely, trust each other, and support each other no matter what. Our friendship was a gradual process and is now very strong. Although we do experience the pressure of being far apart we make up for it by talking often and keeping in touch as much as possible.
...Sorry for practically writing a novel on this one..haha
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