Oranges: A storytime

Covid hit in 2020 and I had been in lockdown for months. I didn't go out and make new friends that year. I had a group of friends from middle school and I thought we'd be friends forever. I stayed inside and didn't do any hobbies or join any clubs. Family came over and sometimes I'd go over and visit them but only if my mom was going, too. I can count on one hand how many times I hung out with other people without my mom initiating it. That hampered my social skills a lot. One day my friends had decided that enough was enough. I had become clingy, wanting to know everything about their lives and expecting them to feel the same way about me when they had already moved on. They said that it would be best if we all just stopped talking for a while. When I got that text I thought that meant everything was over. I threw away everything we made together: friendship bracelets, artwork, I even deleted hundreds of photos of us together. I thought I'd never make friends again. I was too awkward, too boring, and was terribly anxious.

 It was October of 2022 and I had just moved back to my old high school. Covid bans and lockdowns had been lifted. Cooking has always been a comforting hobby for me. I didn't have any friends but I loved cooking. I made this orange jam from scratch and I loved it. My mom liked it too. I also had these Pillsbury doughboy croissants. They were easy to pop in the oven. Every morning I would put my homemade orange jam in the croissant and take them to school for breakfast and lunch. One day I decided to take a few extras for lunch. 

I rode the bus in the morning and once I went to the gym, I saw a group of kids my age and decided to sit next to them. We talked about how the cafeteria food wasn’t good and I offered to give them my extra croissants. Everyone liked them. They introduced themselves: Jett, Sid, Bo, and Vi. It was so refreshing to have a friend group again. We were in the same drama class. A new routine had begun. I would make enough jam filled croissants for everyone, ride the bus to school, then bring them to my friends and talk. When we all saw each other again in tech theatre, we would paint sets and study together. We didn’t have many deep conversations. Having company was enough.

We're still friends to this day. In fact, we ended up having the first hangout that I had in around four years. When we hung out, I pet their parent's goats. I watched this show called Smiling Friends and we're still eagerly waiting for season three. Jett and Sid even helped me make my cosplay for my first Comic Con! Just from one moment I gained a lot of fun experiences that I wouldn't give up for the world. The moral of the story is to put yourself out there. Never give up and don't define yourself by your shortcomings. If you want to bear fruit, you have to sow the seeds.