July 26, 1998

Lately, I just can't seem to stop thinking about my friends back in Chicago. Back in fourth grade with Mrs. Navarocki when I lived on Harding Ave, and everyone still called me by my full name. Back when my best friend and I were constantly rguing; back when the only worry we had was whether or not our mothers would let us hang out on the playground after school. I have to admit, I miss those days.

And I've got the whole reunion of me and all my Belding School friends worked out in my head. It goes something like this:

Scene- two years later, the tennis courts at a park near my present-day house. It's the very beginning of summer, when the weather is just beginning to reach tank-top level. Tony, Christine, Bob and I are in the middle of a game when su enly we hear a guy shout "Hey, guys, I found her" and a whole long line of people appear at the court fence, all laughter and smiles. One, a girl with long black hair and twinkly eyes, steps forward and calls out my name. That's when I finally realize w all these guys are, and I let out this high-pitched squeal of delight and run towards them, dropping my tennis racket and totally forgetting the other players, who stand there looking stunned.

They're all there- all the people who I've managed to group together over the years as the ones that really counted back then. In reality, some of them were probably never friends, let alone part of the same gang. But hey, a girl can dream can't she? So, anyway, there's Linda, Elizabeth, David (who was also the giver of my first kiss way back when in kindergarten), Nicole, Connie, Greg, Mario, and Jenny. I hug them all, still crying out when I feel it's appropriate, and I'm closer to tear of happiness than I've ever been in my life. So are the others, and everyone knows it. Beautiful moment, it really is.

Scene- local hamburger joint, Greg's very convenient Suburban is parked outside, and the eight of us are smooshed into a booth, chowing down some lunch. I'm all smiles, although my mind does drift back to my other friends that I ditched at he park half an hour ago, but not for long. I mean, I've dreamed of this for about five years, and I'm sure they don't need me to help them play a simple game of tennis. Right now, I'm listening very intently to the plan the others are laying out for me It seems that by some odd chance, David and Greg ran into each other last year and started talking about the old school. Before you know it, they've decided to track down a whole list of people before we start senior year, because who knows what will happen to us after high school? Anyways, to make a long story short (don't even say it), they found all our addresses, and set out on the ultimate road trip to find us all. These guys obviously don't believe in telephones.

But there's more to their plan than just seeing all of us again. See, Greg's parents own this cottage up in Minnesota, and they let him bring friends up there during the summer. So, what they propose is, I go home, explain the whole thing my parents, we all spend a few hours with them so they don't think they're only daughter is going off with a bunch of crazed rapists, then I pack, and we go there for a week or so, then we all come home and go our separate ways just like we were before Except, of course, that we'd all be the best of friends anyone has ever known for the rest of our lives.

Of course, my parents agree to the whole thing, my mom even helps me pack, and we're gone. I don't even bother calling my Brookfield friends to tell them the one person they always count on to be home and waiting for a phone call won't eve be in the state for a week or more. They'll live, I figure. And, in the end, they did, although there were a ton of questions, and Greg and David's whole plan worked out perfectly. Everyone lived happily ever after.

I know it probably seems very silly of me, but I really wish my daydream would come true someday. It might also be nice to add in a little part about the fact that I had a crush on Greg for about 9 months after I moved, and suddenly an old ttraction we didn't even know was there starts developing, and........very happily ever after. Because, after all, what is a daydream without a little bit of fairy tale romance added in? A waste of time, that's what.

Ugh. Even thinking about the whole thing makes me miss those guys. Then again, I have to realize that it's not really them that I'm missing. I'm not missing anyone, really. Actually, I'm just discontent with my average, uneventful life, an finding people who understand my every hint, who I can share absolutely everything with without any fear of being ratted on or betrayed, and, I suspect in my deepest heart of hearts, don't exist.