We had gone to high school and our freshman year at University of Pittsburgh together, but now we headed our separate ways, Caitlin to transfer schools and to study abroad in Spain, while I am stuck here in the cold, rainy city of Pittsburgh. We’ve done some travelling together, mostly in the U.S. to Chicago, Wisconsin, and some other places. Our days are spent snowboarding in Vermont, kayaking, wakeboarding, surfing and skydiving, in Ocean City, while a week is spent volunteering at Muscular Dystrophy Association camp as counselors. Despite our extreme lifestyle, some of the best times we’ve had have been entertaining ourselves in our boring hometown.

“Okay, so you’re going to run past these basketball courts through the middle of their game and I’m going to tackle you when we get to this point,” Caitlin said seriously as her words became muffled by the gorilla mask she was sliding over her face. I stood staring out of her bright yellow banana costume. The two of us were a hilarious sight, me hopping around dressed as a fruit and Caitlin, covered from head to toe in black fur.

We were seniors in high school and we thought the world was at our fingertips.

“This is HILARIOUS!” I exclaimed, as I took off running for the basketball courts, arms flailing, heart racing. Cait sprinted after me howling like a little monkey and suddenly I was tackled to the grassy plot beside the basketball courts. The game had ceased and the group of 14 or 15 sweaty men stood laughing and cheering for the banana to survive. The match ended when I freed myself from her grip and ran off into the darkness, with the crowd behind me clapping for my great victory. Caitlin came shortly after; gasping for air and laughing uncontrollably, and finally catching her breath, she smiled and said, “this is exactly why we’re best friends.”

Now, we’ve grown and matured a little and I’ve been wanting for something to remind of our high school days. Now that we aren’t able to see one another every day, we talk on the phone mostly. I called her up a few days ago before she left for Spain for the semester and the last thing I said to her was, “You know Cait, we are going to win this trip to Australia…. You better believe it, girly.”