Jade

Jade: A Gem of a Friend By: Amanda Crandall My best friend is Jade Elliott. She is the kind of person who does not get upset at anything, and I do mean anything. Let me tell you, Jade could be smacked in the face with a pie, and she would simply say, "Ummm, that is delicious!" However, you do not want to get on her bad side. If you do, she can become an exploding volcano! I first met Jade in 6th grade, and we've been friends since 7th. In 7th grade we weren't really great friends. We never really got along that well. Then by eighth grade, we weren't even talking any more. We got into a huge fight that to this day neither of us can remember what it was about. Even though we couldn't recall what it was about, I do remember it was not pretty! There was so much yelling and screaming that for a moment, I thought I might go deaf. Tears were streaming down my face once I got home, and I wanted to rip Jade's face off. The fight lasted over a year. We didn't talk all through eighth grade and through the beginning of 9th. I remember sitting up in a tree with Jade in 7th grade. It was the day before Easter, and we were carving our names together in the tree. We also carved a list of all the boys that we liked at the time. Then finally one chilly November day, the 14th to be exact, I decided to see if the names were still there. I don't know why I wanted to, but I did. Sure enough, the names were still deeply carved into that tree of memories. I remember looking up at the names in disbelief and feeling sad that our friendship was over. It was a sick feeling, and I felt like I had made the worst mistake in the world by letting everything Jade and I together had go to waste. Something inside me whispered how much I needed Jade in my life. I stared at the names for a brief moment, and hurried down the tree, scrapping my legs the whole way down! I just needed to get off that tree because I knew at the moment what needed to be done. I needed to get my friend back. Telling Jade that I was sorry wasn't exactly easy. I was afraid, and I felt like I had already burnt my bridges and that fixing the rift between us would be impossible. Finally, I decided that if I never told Jade how sorry I was that I might always look back on that day and wish I would have done something differently. As I was telling Jade my apologies, I felt like I was tripping over every word I said and choking on my tongue because I just couldn't get the words out fast enough. I was so eager to have her in my life again that I sounded like a babbling idiot! Finally, Jade told me she forgave me. I was shocked for a moment. I couldn't believe that she had actually found it in her big heart to forgive me. I was so happy with life at the moment. I'll never forget the emotions that surged through my body. Now Jade and I have an unbreakable friendship, and I mean unbreakable! We are together so much that we constantly get on each others' nerves, and I love every minute of it. Now, calling her my best friend actually feels like an understatement. Jade is so much more than that. She is like the sister I never had, and I love her so much. Jade will be there for me no matter what! I could be sitting in my death bed, and every day she would be there, never leaving my side, and when I would take my last breath, I would use it to tell her how much her friendship really means to me Jade and I have had so many great memories together! I'll never forget the time we snuck out to go for a jog at 5 am, or the time we stayed out on Talon's dock, or the time she had a bonfire, or the time we skipped school together and went shopping. They were all such great times! I'll also never forget my favorite time with her, which was bringing her to the shore with me. That was so much fun! We went to beautiful Ocean City, NJ. We got to listen to the song the ocean played as it beat against the rocks and to feel that crisp ocean breeze against our skin for a week. We also got to enjoy the boardwalk almost all seven of those amazing summer nights. I loved staying up late with Jade every night, talking about everything and anything that popped into our curious teenage minds. While forcing our tired eyes to stay open each night, we ate junk food, painted our nails, and listened to all our favorite songs. Another favorite memory of mine was when Jade and I hung out together at Disney World! How many best friends get to say that!? We both just happened to be going at the same time, and we decided to meet up. We meet at Magic Kingdom and went on a few rides together. We also bought each other gifts. I got her a beautiful sterling silver anklet with pink Mickey Mouse heads going all the way around it. She got me a mug. It was a very large pink mug with sparkles all over and a big picture of Minnie Mouse on the front. Wow, I'll never forget that vacation. My favorite thing about Jade is probably that she is a complete and total idiot, and I love it! We are both almost exactly the same. I love those moments when we finish each others' sentences. It shows that we really more like sisters than best friends. I definitely consider myself extremely lucky to have Jade in my life. She is everything to me. I could never live without my beautiful, moronic, loser! She is the most special person in the world, and I could never ask for a better friend. I am so thankful that I have Jade in my life. I am sorry for everyone else out there because their best friend will only ever be second best.