Friends in Need

Mid-November of Sophomore year, and there I was completing a workout in my home listening to some Christmas music to put me in a Christmas-y mood when all of a sudden my music kept lowering in volume as I was barraged with Snapchats from one of my friends. “Ugh,” I thought as I stopped suddenly all sweaty and out of breath so I can pause my music to see what was up. I opened the blue chat message from ‘Colber’, which read: “H——-. “Help. “Did you write your essay yet? Help me”. I sighed but wrote back, “Yeah, give me like a half hour” as I proceeded to finish my workout because why should I stop this amazing Christmas workout right now when this essay has already passed the due date? But, like, that was the wrong answer apparently as my notifications kept popping up with new Snapchats from ‘Colber’. “Ugh, can’t he wait two seconds?” I thought, but went to open them anyway because I’m a good friend. “No. “I need help now. “This was due last week”. I thought it over for a few seconds and decided to help him out right now because why not help out a friend in need. I typed back, “Fine” and almost instantly got a video chat request on Snapchat. I answered and we got right to the essay. It took three hours to finish the entire thing because apparently he only wrote one paragraph so far and was probably playing Fortnite at the same time. He also ‘had to go get a snack’ twice, but I helped him find quotes and explain his thoughts in the essay. I also helped reword some of the writing so it made more sense to readers. I felt good about helping him and he felt proud and accomplished when he finally finished. And you know what? 6 months later in April of 2018 and this kid never helped me on my essay when I needed it. So if he ever asks for help on an essay again, you bet you know the answer he will be getting.

In September of 2018, a friend helped save me from my death. Or getting seriously injured, I didn’t really want to find out. Anyway, a warm September to start meant weekends were spent with friends outside for the last bit of heat. Well, our time outside was spent at a very large abandoned house that we found. We came to this house nearly every weekend in September because it was just a fun place for all of us to hang out. Now, I wouldn’t consider this breaking and entering because the door was unlocked and it was, well, abandoned. We didn’t see any signs that said “No Trespassing”, and we were just exploring, it was innocent fun. There was a total of five people, including my brother and me. A visit or two before this visit we discovered we could easily climb onto the roof and watch the sunset, which was beautiful. The roof had an easy grip and was pretty flat so we were safe. This time we were on the porch which was on the second story of the house, which overlooks a giant field. One of the people decided to go off of the railing to the right, facing the field, which is a very steep part of the roof. Directly next to the porch was just air, but facing the house, to the left behind where the air is and lined up with the house was the steep roof, if that makes sense. Anyway, they made it up safely, and another one followed after. I wanted to join because it looked fun to climb up, so I peeked over the railing to see if I could make it. I was a fair distance away, and I’m kind of clumsy so I didn’t think it was the best idea to try and climb up with them. Besides, my shoes I had on were not completely tight and I kept kind of slipping out of them but not really. “Hannah you can’t do that. You’re gonna fall and die. Don’t,” said a voice behind me. Really? This voice did not speak to the other two who just climbed up. They think just because I’m me I can’t climb up this stupid roof? I’ve been on this roof before. There’s no way I’m taking orders from him anyway, so I decided to prove him wrong. “You wouldn’t care if I died anyway,” I replied sarcastically. “True,” he joked. So of course I’m not backing down this was a challenge I’m going to take. If those two can do it, so can I, right? They didn’t fall. I stepped on the railing and kept hearing the voice saying ‘you’re going to fall’ and ‘stop’, but I didn’t care because I wanted to prove to him I could and he was being overdramatic. As I placed one foot on the roof, I looked down to see what I would be meeting if I did fall. A metal fence and some rocks. Great. Well, I can’t back out now, so I grab onto the corner of the roof and pull my other leg up onto the roof. I try taking a step up, but my shoe’s now sliding off and I’m at the farthest I can go. My hand is up further on the roof and I’m just holding on. I can’t go back on the railing and if I tried to go up I would fall. I was stuck exactly how I was and a million thoughts were running through my mind. I tried to think of possible ways that I could save myself, all in a span of like, three seconds. Finally, a conclusion called. My friend who was already on the roof decided to come halfway down the roof, hold on, and stretch his hand out for me to grab. I quickly grabbed his hand and he pulled me up onto the flatter part of the roof, where I could actually stand without falling off. If I was the only one there, there would be no way I wouldn’t have fallen. So I am very thankful my friend was there to help me. I am also very thankful that I proved the other person wrong, I told him I could do it, even if I did have help.

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