Do you remember that time when you first met your best friend, and at the time did you realize that a fantastic relationship would come out of it? It was a warm August evening and I was driving myself to the church’s youth group for the first time. I was starting my junior year in high school and I had never gone to any groups with a lot of kids my age before. As I pulled into the sun-worn, paved parking lot, my heart began to beat faster and faster. The people that I was already friends with had already graduated and I was left to fend for myself. Being the new kid is always tough, but sometimes, great things can happen.

I put my car in park and took the keys out of the ignition. I sighed, opened my car door, and walked through the parking lot with confidence. As I reached the front door, I pulled on the handle, just to find that it was locked. I tried the other six doors leading up to the front to find them all the same, locked. Worrying I had the wrong time, I looked around to find another church member using the office doors on the other side of the building. Feeling embarrassed, I shuffled my way over to the office door and into the hallway.

I entered the church gym to find a million of screaming middle schoolers running around acting like little monkeys. Their voices were trapped behind the two wooden doors and once opened, they hit me like a brick wall. As I retreated back to the main lobby, I found my worship leader, Jeff. He was heading toward the youth minister, Brian’s, office and I let out a sigh of relief. I walked down towards his office to find Jeff, Brian, and a strange girl sitting around talking about what they had planned for the night.

“Hey, Sydni! What’s up?” Jeff asked as he walked over to hug me.

“Oh, not much! How’s the worship business going?”

“Not too shabby! There’s someone that I would like you to meet!” He said pointing to the brunette girl on the couch. “Sydni, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is Sydni!”

“Hi, I’m Hannah! How are you!?” Hannah shrieked.

“I’m good, how are you?” I said, shocked by her enthusiasm.

“I’m doing just great! Sorry, if I scare you. I’m a little loud and happy!”

“It’s okay, you didn’t scare me!” I reassured her. “I need to go find my mom, she should be here any minute.”

“Hey, did she find the food?” Brian asked, just before I left.

“I’m not sure, I’ll go check though!” I replied, heading out of his office.

As I walked down the long hallway to the gym, I spotted my mom walking through the gym doors into the chaos of middle schoolers. She opened the door with a look of shock on her face and made her way through the sea of children. As I reached for the door, I felt a hand grab onto my shoulder.

“Hi, Sydni!” Hannah said as she jumped around and stood in front of me.

“Well, hi there! What’s up?”

“Nothing much, just thought I would come down here with you and see what’s going on!” She said with a huge grin on her face.

“Oh, okay! Yeah, that’s awesome!”

“Look, I can tell you’re kind of nervous, but you shouldn’t be! We’re all a bunch of loving people and I am sure that everyone will love you!”

“I never said that you weren’t! I just need time to get to know people, to get comfortable, and then I’m sure I’ll be a lot more talkative.”

“Okay, well I hope you have a good time tonight and I hope I didn’t scare you too much,” she said as she made her way through the gym doors.

I followed in behind her and soon, the high school kids came filing in, along with Brian. We got started with the night and ended up having a dance party in the gym. The whole night, Hannah was by my side, making sure that I was having a good time and meeting new people.

It has been almost a year since I first went to youth group and Hannah and I have become the best of friends; we’re practically sisters. There was no doubt in my mind about going to youth group that night. Every Friday night since, Hannah and I have hung out and she is now someone that I can tell everything to, without the fear of being judged. I am so glad that I have her in my life and I hope that everyone finds that one friend that they can be their true self around.