Six

I met them in 2005, back in the sixth grade. It was rouuuuuuugh. Middle school was definitely the bane of my existence. Luckily, life has been uphill from that time but it was a struggle. Like I've mentioned before, that was my third school in three years. I was probably the most awkward twelve-year-old you'll ever meet. I was me and didn't care what other people said (at least in front of them) I jumped friend groups and tried to find who I was. I had to deal with these new hormones and the fact that boys were cute now and that people were 'dating' now and all that chaos. (Side note: people of opposite genders weren't allowed to hug on campus. I've always found that comical for whatever reason). I saw the world through new eyes and sometimes felt I was years above everyone else.

Add to that the fact that I was the "new girl" literally disrupting the natural flow of friends that had been in place since 1999. These kids had known each other since kindergarten, some even from birth. Like I'm not making this up. The people that were friends in kindergarten kept being friends through the time I showed up until graduation. No one wanted to make friends because they already had them. And I mean, I don't know that I would've been very welcoming to me either. I consider myself pretty outgoing and I forced my way in to be friends with these people. I mean, I couldn't be alone forever and I had at least 7 years left in this place.

That was when I met them. We had English/Language Arts together with Mr. A, who had become a teacher as a retirement job. Mr. A loved what he did and that made us love it too. It was the only class in the sixth grade that was divided up by testing - meaning we had to take a generalized test and the people who scored the highest were in Mr. A's class so that it could be more challenging and focused. I never thought of it that way though. I saw it as the time when I could see more than the thirty kids that I saw every other period of the day. And it was most definitely more fun.

There's things from that year I STILL remember learning. That "a lot" is two words. That you can misspell spider "sipider" and butterfly "butteryfly". That there is a time to talk and laugh and a time to take things seriously. And that even teachers hated the fact that they had so much paperwork to do so they found loopholes for everything.

Among the people in that class, I met some people that would change my life. There was a group of boys who everyone knew. I mean everyone. They were talked about and people always knew they'd be together. They didn't really talk to anyone else and to be honest they were a little nerdy. (They still are pretty nerdy but I've learned to love it).

Our relationship started out really weird. I really don't know how it happened - they definitely used to make fun of me and I'm pretty sure we were just weird to each other (I mean it was middle school) and since we were in that English/Language Arts class together, we continued to have classes together through middle school and high school. We all did band. A lot of them played football and I cheered. There definitely was a lot of exposure to each other.

I can remember the exact moment I got my name as "Momma Goose" though. We were getting ready to play at a concert in high school. I had to go around fixing everyone's collars because I'm ocd like that  and it had become kind of expected. And then K said. "Thanks Momma Goose. Always making sure we look nice."

Through the years, things changed and these boys became my family. I looked out for them and they were protective of me. I heard things I sometimes wish I hadn't but always felt special that they included me. It melted my heart when Mrs. I called them my boys - everyone understood the dynamic of our relationship and I loved that. They're the ones that I still talk to, the ones I want to share important things with, and the ones I want IN my wedding. It's weird but it works.

They taught me so much through the years that I will always appreciate and hold dear to my heart and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of them and worry about them like I always have. They're my pride and joy and I brag about them and people probably get annoyed but I don't care because I know that my boys will take care of the haters.

And though we might not see each other everyday or even talk to each other everyday anymore, they will always be there in everything that I do because I don't want to have to hear the critiques if I mess up.