At the begining of every school year, I tingled in anticipation of finally meeting my new best friend. Last year, I thought Angela was going to be my friend, but after a few days she thought she was too cool for me. The year before that, I made a special effort to make Julia feel welcome, but we soon drifted off in different directions. In seventh grade, we got a whole bunch of new girls, Samantha, Kathy, Mary, Susan; I decided to throw a party to kick off the school year to welcome them. Samantha and Mary showed up, but I don't think they had a great time. Kathy told me at school later she couldn't make it. Susan -- I don't know why she couldn't come; she's never spoken a word to me. She is best friends with Angela now.
But all this is not important, because this year, I knew I met my new best friend. This girl stood out in a crowd, mainly because of her bright orange and blue hair, but also because of her colorful personality to match. Even her name suggested her raw individuality: Kristy. Well, that was her given name, but she insisted on being called K. At a Catholic all girls school, she was like a thorn in Jesus' crown. The nuns hated her since the first day when she waltzed into mass and sat in a pew without genuflecting. She just patiently waited for all the girls in line ahead of her to kneel respectfully, then she just marched on into her seat and winked at the nearest nun.
That was the moment I knew I had to know her better. So after mass I stopped her in the hall and said, "I think what you did today in mass was really courageous."
"Uh, Thaanks."
"No really, I mean it. All the girls here are like, sheep or something. You're more like a wolf, I can tell."
"You're so right, i hate that about people. They are always following, never taking any initiative. There aren't any individuals anymore."
"You are."
"True." That was the start of our friendship. After school, we hung out at the park on the playground. We took turns pushing each other on the swing, while she told me about all her opinions.
"Yea, I hate capitalism too, K. It's like, these people don't realize that money isn't important."
"Yea I know. So what do you think is important? I mean, if money isn't?" She asked me.
"Well, lots of things. Art, for example."
"I love art! And all these money hungry capitalist pigs are just sucking up all the money and leaving none left for the truly creative."
"Wow, I totally agree. So you sound like you know a lot about capitalism. Are you taking economics?"
"Ugh, yea, but I don't want to since I already aced it at my last school. But they wouldn't let my credit transfer for some reason. Apparently public school education isn't good enough for the prissy catholic girls."
"You took Economics as a freshman? Wow. What other classes are you taking?"
"Religion, of course," she rolled her eyes, "I just can't wait for that class. I get to learn all about how every religion except Roman Catholicism is wrong and how everyone is going to hell. How 15th century. Also i am taking math and english."
"Cool, I think im in all your classes except math. I can't wait until econ tomorrow, our teacher is so mean. I've never met him, but i've heard stories about how he yells at students and disproves them wrong whenever they disagree with him. I can't wait until you show him whos boss, haha."
We both laughed.
Economics was different though. The teacher, Mr. Murry, talked about why we should study economics. I guess K didn't disagree with anything he said, until he started talking about how we were going to study how money flows between people, and how currency was one of the single most important inventions. This is when K raised her hand.
"Money is the most important invention. That's what's wrong with the world, everyone thinks money is so important, it just gets in the way of the truly important things, like art."
The teacher was quiet for a second before looking at his list of student's names and responding, "Kristy. This is a class in economics. Money is the most important thing during the time you are in my class for the next semester. If you wish to drop my class and take up pottery, then please speak with Mrs. Candace, the registrar."
K just gave him a look and rolled her eyes.
After class I told her that I thought she made a good point and Mr. Murry was just being mean because he can't accept anyone having a different opinion.
"Yea, he's so narrow minded."
"You should show him a thing or two by acing his class. That would get under his skin."
During the next few weeks, K and I grew closer and closer. I was so happy that I had found my new best friend after all these years of trying. She helped me come out of my shell and explore and grow the ideas that were locked away inside of me, like religion. She taught me how Priests and nuns were trying to brainwash us.
I took to my studies extra hard because I wanted to impress her. I didn't expect to do better than her, but I at least wanted her to know that I wasn't some sheep, that I knew stuff and had opinions. Our first econ test came the same day as our first religion test. I thought they were both pretty hard. The multiple choice on Econ wasn't too bad, but the essays took a while. I think I did okay. The question was, "Explain the advantages of the marketplace economy over earlier forms of commerce."
We had religion first, and we got our tests back. I made a B, and was really happy, even though I figured K got an A. After class I asked her how she did, and she said she got an A. Makes sense, she's the smart one.
But what surprised me was econ. I got an A- on my test. I thought it was harder than that. But when I saw K's paper, I was really shocked. She failed, like an F. After Mr. Murry handed back all the tests, he asked to see Kristy after class. Then he said, "Some students had some difficulty with the multiple choice, which is understandable. Other stuents, however, seemed to have trouble with the concept of multiple choice. No write-in answers are acceptable." He looked right at K. "Furthermore, the essay you were expected to write is clearly outlined in your text. There are very specific things you should know and be able to explain for the essay. This is not a forum for students to express their individual opinions. Wait until you know something about economics before you try to comment on it intelligently."
I waited outside Mr. Murry's classroom for K for 15 minutes. Finally, she came out of the door and stormed off to her next class. I had math, so I went on to class. I would just wait until after school to find out what happened.
I caught up with her after school. She didn't say anything for a few minutes and we just walked in silence. Finally, I asked her how her meeting with Mr. Murry went. She just said, "God, I failed his stupid test on purpose. To make a point."
Now I understood. It didn't make sense before how she could fail a test of something she knew so much about.
"How did he take the point?"
"He just doesn't get it that some people can have different opinions."
"Yea I know." Then, "Are you going to fail the next test?"
She said, "I don't know. I think i'll make an A+ to show him that I know what I'm talking about. That will throw him off, he probably thinks im pretty stupid."
I laughed. "What a moron, huh. Anyway, do you want to come over? It's friday, and my mom said I could invite a friend."
"Yea sure, I don't feel like dealing with my mom today."
"So you've never had a boyfriend?" She asked me.
"No, no one has asked me out. What about you?"
"Nah, none of the guys are good enough for me."
That made sense to me, so I just nodded my head. Then I was confused about what she meant, so I asked her, "None of the guys who have asked you out? Or just guys in general?"
"Guys in general. At least none of the ones I've met."
"So do you like girls, is that what you mean?" During the second before she answered, I felt this weight lift off my shoulders and roll onto my stomach. I was lightheaded and nervous at the same time.
"No! I'm not a lesbian, that's gross."
"Me neither! I just was wondering what you meant."
"I know," she said and smiled. Then we continued our deep conversation.