Friendship

Timing is a funny thing. Some religious figures see it as fate, when in reality, it’s chance. The world doesn’t care about any one person enough to stop its continuously moving clock and allow what some people see as “fate” to occur. The world is morphing and changing all around us, and having bad timing can alter what could have been to what actually is. And that is exactly what happened to Helen and Rose, or what might have happened. I suppose I’ll just start at the end, since I have already spoiled it for you. If, say, this story were to be written in any sort of organized manner, the last few words would say, “Helen and Rose never officially met, and therefore, the course of history wasn’t altered even the tiniest bit. The world kept spinning, the sun kept shining, and the birds kept singing as usual.” Oh, but that’s no fun, is it? What would you learn from that story? That timing is awful, and constantly doing us wrong? I’ll continue my story, starting from the end of it all, and hopefully give you a little something more to think about. Destiny was trying to make its way into the world again Now, I have already told you that the girls never met, but what if I told you that they almost did? Oh, they were so close! One of the opportunities, the last, to be precise, was a sweltering hot July afternoon, yet Helen was cool as a cucumber, and pale as one, too, in her study. Meanwhile, Rose was attending yet another appointment with the swimming pool and was as crispy as a potato chip. A few hours later, Helen hopped in her car, for no apparent reason but to drive, and Rose mounted her motorcycle (for no apparent reason but to leave). And for a second, as they passed each other on the road, they made unmistakable eye contact. Silly, worthless eye contact, really. The kind where each person thinks, “I am so much better than her,” because, in fact, that eye contact was the only factor holding their destined meeting back. If they hadn’t seen each other at that pitiful time, a little later down the road, Helen would have noticed the poor, shivering girl in her swimsuit, offered to give her a ride, and, well, you know what would have happened. But that wasn’t the case, so each girl’s world remained unaltered, again. Now, let’s rewind to a few years earlier, at Rose’s sweet-sixteen party, aka the party, at Bowl on a Penny, “the cheapest bowling in America!” which just so happened to be Helen’s place of employment at the time. As they bowled, Rose, a clearly inexperienced bowler, rolled a bowling ball so softly that it came to a halt only a few feet away from where she had dropped it. Laughing as if her daughter had just told the funniest joke in the world, Rose’s mom walked over to a lovely young girl at the Snack Shop. That girl turned the task over to (who else, but…) Helen, of course! Destiny was trying to make its way into the world again. Grudgingly, Helen waddled up to the alley, right as Rose’s friends all gathered around her to give her the presents. Helen handed Rose’s mom the bowling ball, with a hinted “you’re welcome,” and returned to the Snack Shop. And that was the end of it, yet another missed opportunity. In fact, they both had a few opportunities to meet each other. Each one they missed left them two steps behind, and yet another opportunity caught them off guard. Their first opportunity was truly a shame. It was the perfect scenario, both girls were in the same store, in the same location, on the same day. The only issue: timing. And though one may groan at the agony of all these missed opportunities, I can sure as anything tell you what would have happened had these scenarios ended in a meeting of the two girls. Yes, it would have been a great friendship at first, filled with many great memories. However, a few years later, Helen would convince Rose to spend less time at the pool. Rose would encourage Helen to give up on her dreams and goals to relax more. Over time, they would gnash away at each person’s individual talents and characteristics and morph into the “normal” person—do nothing great, achieve nothing great, learn nothing great. So be thankful for timing, for the people life lets you meet, and those who life doesn’t. Now that you know what would have happened if fate had won over reality, be mindful that with the people life gives you, you control your destiny with them. And always be thankful for chance, because this world would have lost two individuals, Helen and Rose, without it. Lily Strauss, 12Leawood, Kansas Jia Qi Liu, 13Oakland, California

“Really? You will teach me how to play?” he asked, not believing Kevin jumped out of bed and pulled at the curtains to open them. He glanced outside and groaned. The sun was not yet over the horizon, but snow was falling very heavily and the wind was whipping the trees back and forth. The snow was so thick he couldn’t even see the houses on the other side of the street. Kevin threw himself back on the bed and tried to console himself. Grabbing his iPod off the nightstand nearby, Kevin checked it for messages. There was one new message. Please no, he prayed silently, and he opened the text. The text was exactly what he didn’t want to read. School canceled and that meant no basketball. Today was the last basketball game and Kevin was looking forward to it and now there had to be a snowstorm. “Drat!” Kevin mumbled to himself. Kevin had been out all season from the first game with a broken wrist, and now with a few days of practice under his belt he was going to play in tonight’s final game of the season. Or he was, until school was canceled. Kevin dragged himself out of bed and slouched down the stairs to the main floor where his mother was busy making breakfast. The pancakes and bacon didn’t improve his mood, even though they were his favorite meal. Kevin just sat in his chair, moodily staring at the wall. His dad thumped down the stairs wearing a suit and a tie and rubbing his head with a grimace on his face. “Hit my head on the low ceiling again,” Kevin’s father replied to his wife’s inquiring look. Mr. Hargrove was six-foot-ten and very muscular. He dropped his tall ungainly figure into a chair and settled himself down to a plateful of pancakes and bacon. He was halfway done with his plate of breakfast when he noticed that Kevin had eaten nothing. Kevin was tall like his father already at six-foot-one in eighth grade. “Canceled?” Mr. Hargrove asked his wife. She nodded and turned back to the griddle silently. Kevin looked up from his plate and asked, “May I be excused? I’m not hungry.” “Not hungry?” his mother asked, pretending to be surprised. “You know I made this especially for you. I want you to at least eat one pancake and one piece of bacon.” Kevin broke off a tiny piece of bacon and a slightly larger piece of pancake, swallowed them quickly, and washed them down with a glass of orange juice. “Now?” he asked. “Fine, whatever,” his mother replied impatiently. “Go.” Kevin pushed his chair back and walked upstairs. As soon as he left, Mrs. Hargrove turned to her husband with a sad look. Mr. Hargrove stood up and took his wife’s hand. “You know how much this means to him, Mary.” She nodded and said, “Yes, I know, especially after what it meant to you, Tim.” Mr. Hargrove nodded. He knew what she was talking about. He had been a star in the NBA, but in his third year he had a career-ending injury during a game, injuring his spine so that he could never play again. Kevin had this dream that he could be a star like his father, only without injuring himself. Kevin was only in eighth grade and was better than any boy his age at basketball, and that is why it bothered him so much to have been injured in the first game. Kevin made himself go downstairs about fifteen minutes later. His parents were talking by the garage door and stopped when they saw him approaching. As he came to say goodbye to his father, his parents came to a silent agreement. “ Kevin,” Mother said slowly, “how about you drive along with your father to his work and use the gym next door? You can spend the entire day there. Here is some money,” Mrs. Hargrove said, handing him ten dollars, “to buy lunch with at the Pizza Hut next door. Will you be OK being there by yourself?” Kevin nodded. He had spent many days in that gym all by himself in the summer when his mother worked and he wasn’t at any of his friends’ houses. “All right then,” his father clapped. “I definitely don’t want to be late for my meeting, so let’s get going.” Kevin grabbed his basketball and hopped in the car with his father. A few minutes later Kevin stretched as he stepped out of the red Corvette his father drove. “See ya, Dad,” Kevin called as he slammed the door and his father pulled away around the corner. Kevin opened the door to the building, showed his pass to the clerk, and walked on to the gym. A fun day in the gym by myself, thought Kevin. He was wrong about one thing. He wouldn’t be alone. As he walked through the open door to the gym it seemed empty, as usual. He ran to barely behind the three-point line, lined up, and, with perfect form, took a shot. Swish! “Yes!” he muttered to himself and ran to get the ball. After three more shots he was startled by someone standing up from under the bleachers on the left. “AHH!” Kevin shouted. “Don’t do that!” he said, startled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” said the boy. The boy’s voice sounded different from any voice Kevin had heard before. “Well, what were you doing under there? Did you drop your phone?” Kevin asked. “No,” the boy replied. “I was just looking for something to do.” “Oh,” Kevin replied. The other boy came and stood a few feet away from Kevin. Kevin had to stop himself from pinching his nose at the smell of the other boy. He smelled like he hadn’t taken a shower in months. Kevin didn’t recognize him from the school he went to. Kevin just tried to keep the conversation going. “Where