Back home, I had very few “friends.” That’s because I pretty much ignored everyone. I didn’t have the mental space to deal with anything else other than the hell I was living at home.

Danny was this weird girl who for some reason wanted to be my friend. I say weird, because she wasn’t like anyone else. She liked what she liked, she was super confident and whenever anyone said anything bad about her, it didn’t phase her. She was just totally and completely okay with living in her truth and that was something I’d never seen. I had way too many things to hide, so I spent all my time and energy trying not to let anyone see that. But not her. She’s the type of girl who’d just go right up to a guy and say “I like you. When are you taking me out?” Like, in her mind rejection wasn’t even a possibility because that’s how awesome she was.

I never let anyone come over to my house. That was just a whole other world to me. One that I worked hard at keeping a secret. Danny didn’t take no for an answer and pushed until she got what she wanted. I knew that once she saw what I was really like, she’d no longer want to me my friend so I made my peace with it.

The day Danny came over, my sisters were over at the neighbors house. Shelly, our neighbor, was my oldest sisters best friend. Shelly had a pool in her yard and since we only had a chain link fence separating our properties, I could always see what they were up to. Shelly was always mean to me because my sister was. Both my sisters would always get invited over while I just sat behind and watched how much fun they’d have. My sister and Shelly would always make sure they insulted me loud enough for me to hear. After a while it didn’t even hurt anymore. It was just another day.

When Danny came over, I panicked because I knew Shelly and my sister would go extra hard on me. And they did. To my surprise though, Danny shut them up with her comebacks and wasn’t bothered by it, and didn’t look at me any different. I was shocked. How could anyone want to be around me after spending a day with my family?

Danny made me feel like a person. Like I was normal. Like I was worthy of kindness. And that is why I decided I’d try and allow her to be in my life. She’s the reason we are still friends all these years later. She pushes for it all the time, in true Danny form.

I was mostly happy to move away, but I was sad about having to leave the only real friend I had. I was certain that was a fluke and I’d never have that again.