Forever and Always

People have always told me that being lonely is when you are surrounded by many other people, but no one is talking or paying any attention to you. When you're alone, though, there is nobody around you at all. I'm not sure if I agree with that idea. I was pretty much both lonely and alone; until I met Jake, that is.

It was the first day of school in my junior year in high school. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward to the monotony of high school for the third year in a row. I remember wishing over and over again that I were a senior, not a junior, so that I could graduate and have a promising future ahead. Of course, I knew that was never going to happen, so I had to bear going back to high school, and the barely concealed mutterings of: "Look, it's that freak Trevor Brown again, back from the dead", or "Don't ever talk to Trevor Brown, I heard that he had to go to Juvenile Hall because he pulled a knife on his cousin!" How I hated all the rumors that were spread about me, and believe me, there were a lot!
I suppose people thought I was eccentric and a freak because I never talked to anyone; I just drew pictures and wrote poetry. People always thought I was a juvenile delinquent because of my spiky blond hair, pale skin, and numerous piercing I adorned myself with. The only thing people thought was normal about me were my bright blue eyes, which seemed normal on a blond-haired guy. I figured I didn't need to talk to anyone or make friends as long as I had my sketchbook/notebook with me. Luckily, Jake changed all that.
Jake Shadow had just come from Chicago, Illinois, and it was his first day of school here in Los Angeles, California. He became immediately popular with everyone at school for his quirky, fun personality. Everyone had wanted to be The New Guy's best friend. I was amazed that he had chosen me to fill that position.
I had been sitting under my favorite tree in the lunch area at school drawing during lunch, when I heard something above me.
'Hello. Wutcha drawing?" I looked up into The New Guy's face and saw the most reckless, wild grin you could ever imagine. His blue-gray eyes were laughing openly, not at me, but with pure happiness and kindness. He had a tan, broad face with a slight dusting of freckles along the bridge of his nose, and long brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail with a few wisps of hair dancing around his face. I was so stunned that he had actually spoken to me that I wasn't able to answer for a few seconds.
"Oh, uh, um, it's just a sketch of a, um, guy playing the electric guitar. I went to a rock concert last weekend and was inspired."
Wow. I just said two sentences to a person I didn't know. How so unlike me. Jake looked down at my drawing. It wasn't much, just a sketch of a guy playing guitar wildly with his long hair flying in the air, going every which way.
"That's really good! Where'd you learn to draw like that?" Jake asked, clearly admiring my drawing. I blushed at his praise, but I felt good inside. No one has ever commented on my drawings before with such nice things to say about it.
"Well, I guess I kinda taught myself. I never went to an art class or anything if that's what you mean."
"Wow! I'm impressed! D'ya think you could teach me how to draw? I love taking pictures and photography, but I've never drawn before. I mean, if that's ok with you, of course."
"I guess I could, but I've never taught anyone anything before. I'm kinda a recluse, I don't have very good people skills."
"I don't think you're a recluse. You're talking to me right now, aren't ya? The name's Jake Shadow, at your service. What's yours, O Master of Fine Arts?" Jake finished extravagantly, mockingly bowing before me like a slave.
"It's Trevor Brown, and I'm not really a Master of anything right now."
"Don't worry, I know. I'm just joking around with you, ok? Now, when do you want to start these lessons? I'm pretty much ready whenever you are."
"Oh, yeah, um, how about right now? We can just touch a bit on the basics of drawing. Then, maybe we can meet sometime out of school to continue."
Jake readily agreed, and I began to show him the fundamental basics of drawing. He was a fast learner, and when the lunch bell rang to signal that lunch was over, time to get to class, Jake asked me to come over after school the next day. I said sure, and put away my art materials. As I was standing up, Jake turned back and said to me:
"Thanks for everything! I'm really glad I got a friend on my first day of school here. See ya tomorrow, Trevor!"
With that, he was gone. I just stood there, rooted to the spot. He called me his friend? I, Trevor Brown had finally become friends with someone at last! I shrugged my backpack on, and headed for my next class, a small smile playing across my face. I was finally happy with myself.

So thus started my friendship with Jake, my best friend in the whole world. We continued the drawing lessons, but we became distracted by talking about life and everyday things. Jake said he prefered photography anyway. We pretty much told each other everything, our opinions, and our likes and dislikes. It felt good having a best friend. It felt right.
Friendship is something every teenager should have during his or her high school, and even middle school, years. I remember, after Jake and I became best friends, I wrote a poem that likened friendship to a blossoming flower. To have a healthy and beautiful flower, you must water it and take loving care of it; it's the same with friendship. To have a healthy friendship, you have to nurture it and help make it grow. Well, that's what we did.
Jake and I were both ecstatic about our last year of high school. It meant that, when it was over, we had our whole future in front of us.
"Just wait, Trevor", Jake was telling me that first day of senior year, "We are gonna have our whole lives out there, in front of us. I bet it will feel so good! Woo-hoo!"
I grinned and agreed with him. After high school, Jake and I decided to go, hopefully, to the same college, and pursue the careers of our dreams. Jake wanted to be professional photographer, and I wanted to continue my drawing and poetry. It was interesting to me how Jake and I were always interested in art, and also what our world looks like. We both wanted to create different, maybe even more beautiful, views of our world for the general public. I suppose we thought that a surreal, perfect picture of our world for people to see might make them feel better about the bitter reality that we live in. We also both wanted to help people at the same time.
Senior year was filled with excitement and anxiety. Everyone couldn't wait for graduation. When it finally came, it felt as though we had waited forever for it.
Jake and I both graduated with good scores, and we both got into the same college. It was an Arts college, perfect for us. After the whole graduation ceremony, Jake cam over to my place to sleepover. We put our graduation things away, and went to go sit on my porch in my backyard. Staring up at the stars, we talked.
"You know what, Trev? I'm really happy right now. I've just graduated from high school, got into a great college, and I have the best friend in the world. We'll always be together, right Trevor?"
I started to pick the petals off of a flower. "Forever and always", I said, as the wind picked up the picked-off flower petals, and drifted them away into the starry, moonlit sky beyond.