School Friend

Good morning Day 15 of the Rise and Write series of prompts, impromptus, and sketches based on a common theme.  This morning I am going third person again, my tool I use when an event or a story is based on real events or people, but morphed with creative license and varied details, plus a bit of anonymity by using fictitious names. Today's prompt, write about a friend from your school years, fits this way of writing well.  

She and her former classmates were near religious in following the reunion cycle of every 5 years.  Up until the twentieth, the reunion had been planned by the three class officers and anyone they could get to help.  With the adage of Facebook and other social media, by the time the 25th and 30th reunions was being planned, fatigue had set in by those three, and planning became an open invitation for anyone who wanted to help.  The reunion events were casual from that point on, and besides the every 5 year one, impromptu gatherings became the norm. This is how Lisa reconnected with a former friend from elementary school.  

Thirty-nine and a half years earlier, Debbie and her family moved to town.  When you grow up in a small town with generations of families, having fresh faces is a big deal.  At first, everyone wanted to be the new girls friend. Then over time, as 3rd grade friendships were solidified, the glamour wore off, and Debbie melded into normal. But not to Lisa.  To Lisa, she thought Debbie was unique to all the other friends she had. Lisa and her friends were the quiet, background kids, who spent more effort trying to stay out of attentions way than trying to stand out.  They did their own things, and let the vibrant, pretty children capture the teachers attention. In these days, organized sports for girls younger than 12 were rare.  Phy Ed was the only form of sports for girls, until finally there was an after school option for 5th and 6th grade girls. In athletics, Lisa naturally stood out from most girls. Until Debbie came along. 

Debbie came from a family of athletes.  All were tall and muscular for their ages, and lived and breathed sports. Where in Lisa's family they might play a game of PIG or HORSE outside on the hoop hanging on the garage, at Debbie's house they had three on three games, with no mercy on Debbie or her younger brother. They went for family runs and had weights and sit up benches that were actually used in their basement. Elementary  years closed out with Track and Field Day, Debbie winning first place ribbons in just about all her events, Lisa with a small collection of second and third place finishes. 

 In the mile, a track event that Lisa normally finished first, even after Debbie was in the school,  Lisa felt a sharp pain going into the last lap. She knew she was slowing down, but her body just wouldn't let her go faster as the pain increased. Debbie, as well as two other girls passed her by and she didn't even get a ribbon in the event. Lisa was crying huge wet tears by the time she completed the race.  Her ankle was in real pain.  Debbie was the first one over to her. "What happened?  Are you OK." she asked her.  Debbie waved a couple teachers over to show them Lisa's ankle.  It was discolored and swollen. Lisa''s parents were called, and she was taken to the doctor.

It turned out that not only had Lisa sprained her ankle, there was also a small fracture in the bone. She returned for the last two days before summer vacation, in a walking cast, using crutches the first day as the plaster hadn't fully set. She would be spending the first half of summer in that cast. As the kids were finishing packing up the class room, cleaning book shelves, stacking books on carts, and cleaning their desks as was the last day of school ritual, Debbie came over to Lisa with something in her hand.  It was the 1st place mile ribbon.  "You should have won.  This is really yours." Debbie was competitive, but more so, kind. 

The two stayed friendly in middle school and high school, but had different circles.  Debbie continued to grow in her athleticism, while Lisa had peaked at 12, never more than a bench player. Debbie was featured periodically in the local paper for her college sports successes. Lisa went to college, married young, and started a family, exposing her children to a variety of sports and opportunities.  At each of the reunions since graduation, Lisa and Debbie found a few moments for a catch-up. Debbie too became a wife and mother, with her daughter taking after her in athleticism, but her son, a different path. Not surprisingly, Debbie's career took her in the sports medicine direction, so fitting after she rushed to her friends aid when they were 12.