i met nessie at a time when it was still easy for me to lie. it wasn't a pathological condition (in case you were wondering), but more often than not it was me being too much of a people pleaser choosing the easy, lying way out rather than being the bearer of an uncomfortable truth. i'm guessing it helped that i was a sweet-faced high-school nerd that nobody took seriously, that people always assumed i could never hurt a fly (the truth is, i once bit a fly to death--accidentally--but that's another story) let alone tell a bald-faced lie, and i was also self-aware enough to know how to use this to my advantage whenever i deemed necessary.
nessie intimidated me at first; for such a wisp of a girl she was frank, direct and opinionated while i was meek, shy, and timid, with a dorky penchant for synonyms. i never thought we would hit it off or be more than passing acquaintances.
fast forward 18 years later, and nessie has become the kind of friend i have no choice but to forgive for all the times she's made me wait or stressed on whether she'd make it to our flight or not. she's become the kind of friend whom my mother asks about every once in a while, the friend whose honesty matches my self-deprecation so well that we've learned to laugh at ourselves first without needing to be perfect or defensive.
nessie is true to herself in a way that makes her one of the proudest people i know. when she knows what she wants she lets it be known, tells it like it is, and to hell if the world doesn't like it. while i will probably always be a hopeless, sweet-faced people pleaser (who is not immune to the occasional humble brag), being nessie's friend has made it harder for me to lie now, at least without the flippantness of my young, high-school self, and i will always be grateful for her example.
nessie intimidated me at first; for such a wisp of a girl she was frank, direct and opinionated while i was meek, shy, and timid, with a dorky penchant for synonyms. i never thought we would hit it off or be more than passing acquaintances.
fast forward 18 years later, and nessie has become the kind of friend i have no choice but to forgive for all the times she's made me wait or stressed on whether she'd make it to our flight or not. she's become the kind of friend whom my mother asks about every once in a while, the friend whose honesty matches my self-deprecation so well that we've learned to laugh at ourselves first without needing to be perfect or defensive.
nessie is true to herself in a way that makes her one of the proudest people i know. when she knows what she wants she lets it be known, tells it like it is, and to hell if the world doesn't like it. while i will probably always be a hopeless, sweet-faced people pleaser (who is not immune to the occasional humble brag), being nessie's friend has made it harder for me to lie now, at least without the flippantness of my young, high-school self, and i will always be grateful for her example.
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