part one: awkward encounters of the boy kind.

One of life's most contemplated questions, thanks to Norah Ephron, is whether or not men and women can be friends. Well I have an answer to which the short answer is, for the most part, yes.

It all started about four and half years ago when I boldly decided to move halfway across the country to go to college. Call it rebelling or something along those lines. But for the first time I was free from anyone who had known me growing up. Maybe not the best plan but it was a plan none the less. A fresh start away from the boys that had perpetually made my life a living hell my last two years in high school.

I mean I can literally pinpoint the root of all my trust issues with guys. To the minute. Which is horrifying in that I have to deal with that, but comforting for the sheer fact I know that it's not me and that I have every right to be as wary as I am.

  I digress, back to the story.

I can safely say that my friends my first two years at school was determined by the people I met my first week. One of those people being one of my now best friends.  And like every single romantic comedy ever, we weren't exactly fond of each other when we first met. In fact I'm pretty sure he really didn't like me, for about two years. I'm pretty sure I didn't like him for a long time either actually. I mean most of the time we hung out in those early days I spent most of my energy on making him as uncomfortable as possible.

And did I ever.

Out of all the thing I did to make him blush, the one that stands out as the"winner" is the time I got my red fuzzy handcuffs and handcuffed his to a friend of mine, and then made him watch as we (it wasn't just me being terrible so calm your tootsie rolls) properly demonstrated to how put a condom on with a water bottle as the model. And yes I have pictures, and no, I won't ever share them. At least I'm respectful of that. But I will still tell that story to most anyone who'll listen. And on multiple occasions bring it up to him so that he'll get all awkward about how awkward and easily embarrassed he used to be.

In between us not really liking the other and us becoming amazingly good friends, we had a period of time where we didn't really talk or hang out. Or as I like to call it : The Dark Ages. Or my sophomore year, not really picky about the title of that particular time.