On our way to Sea World for a Biology field trip when we were barely teenagers, I looked over at a new guy on the bus and, as a natural social butterfly, asked him who he was and where he came from. We got to talking and, knowing that it was his very first day at our school and that we were, literally, the first students he had encountered, I invited him to hang out with my group of friends for the day. Before that day was done, it was as if we had known each other for years. Here's the funny part of the story that I will never forget; Nikka (as I had started calling him within 30 mins of meeting him because I thought his last name sounded cool) and I sat together in the bus on the way back. My, then, boyfriend and my mutual friends felt like they should warn Chris that I was "taken" and attempt to intimidate him. Who knows why but to, maybe, exude testosterone like high school boys do. Before I even told them to take a hike, Nikka just looked at them, laughed and went back to our conversation. My friends didn't know what to say so I just looked up and laughed at them while rolling my eyes. They sat down and joined in the conversations for the rest of the trip, as if Nikka had "passed". Chris wasn't overly- confident, by any means, but not shy, either. It was hilarious and made us instant friends through high school and into adulthood. It is the type of friendship where we could go a year or 5 without any contact, but when we came back together it was as if we had never lost time. The type of friend you always ask about and wonder how he or she is doing. That was the impact he had on my life, as well as my family's... I thought I'd tell the story of his first day as a freshmen at Pflugerville High because it might make for some interesting reading for his kids when they go through this later. My memory of him will always start with that very first meeting and how we were friends, estranged at times, until the day he left us.