to me you'll always be 18 and beautiful Chapter 2

Middle school years were a blast for the 8th grade class of 2000. Cody was extremely popular back then, we were the cool kids but still made friends with all kinds of people. I will always look back on those years of pure innocent fun with love and a smile. However, this is where a conflict of interest arose between all of us. But I will get to that later, for now I want to think about running through the corn fields in early fall at Sean Lerette's house. The same corn fields we rode by everyday for years and years on the bus. There was a bus stop at each of our street corners (Azurite and Calumet) but every morning we would meet up before the bus picked us up. Just having those few extra minutes with Cody made walking 2 tiny blocks worth it. On the bus we would share a pop tart (Cody gave me the dry edges I loved while she ate the middle with all the filling and frosting). The ride to school was over an hour to school and at least a half hour after school. At the time I remember how boring it seemed everyday but I didn't realize I was making magical memories to enjoy for the rest of my life. We shared everything possible those years of our youth. Orange Pop Lipsmackers chapstick, bottled water, gel pens, Covergirl compacts and tweezers, math homework.... We had a pretty big group of friends so as soon as we arrived to school I had to share Cody with the rest of our friends. I continued searching for God these years, looking to the bible and youth group for my answers. I think Cody craved Jesus these years too but it was a little harder for her to stay as involved as I did. This is where she started to stray from the rest of us goody-goodies while we stayed involved in school and church groups. Cody had an older brother who had lots of friends, just like Cody. They were older though and that's where Cody began to witness alcohol and drug use. I was always a little jealous of how brave Cody was, to be around all of that so young. Again, she was always cooler than me. But I stuck with my church friends through these years, still very fearful of turning into my dad. During the 8th grade season of cheerleading Cody quit the squad she once loved so much. She was infatuated with an older boy, Chad, at the time. And honestly I feel like that summer before 8th grade is where she really outgrew the rest of us. She wanted to be grown up and sneak out of the house to be with a boy all night. I always had a gross feeling about this Chad guy, like he was really bad for her self-esteem. But he was best friends with Cody's brother, Tom, and I knew Tom would protect her. This guy Chad never had just one girl at a time, at least 2 or 3. It really broke my heart that Cody didn't think she deserved to be the only one. This is one of those times where I could have tried more to make Cody see how special she was. To this day I don't think I ever really expressed to her how much she shined to me. For years she was another part of me. A pretty, petite, smart-alec, intelligent, strong-willed side of me. All the things I wished I could be, but I was never jealous of her because I knew how hard she had faught to be who she was. I was just glad that she was forever mine.