Michelle

I've mentioned Michelle a few times already, but never really explained who she was.

I met Michelle when I was going out with Shawn. She was seeing his friend Trevor, and thought we should be friends, so she made it happen.

Michelle was wild. More so than any of the girls I knew, and more than even I was. She had dark brown hair with thick blonde streaks in it that she wore spiked up. She had what I thought were the coolest clothes, the smallest minis, the tightest jeans, the sexiest tops. She had a leather jacket with fringes on it, and spiked high heeled boots. She was full of confidence and was not afraid to speak her mind. The guys all thought she was hot, and the girls were too afraid not to be her friend.

I loved her instantly.

Within months we were great friends. She transferred to my school and we walked around there like we owned it. She gave me confidence to talk to people I had never talked to before, made me feel sexy and beautiful and daring just being around her.

Unfortunately, my girl friends never really clicked with her like I did, but I knew her better than they did. I got her, and she got me.

Michelle did not have an easy time growing up. Before she started at Pearson she had been in a group home, and before that, living on the streets. She and her Mom did not get along well, and Michelle would not allow herself to be in a situation where she was not happy. When I met her she was back at home, but over the next couple of years she would go from her Mom's, to a group home, to the streets, to crashing at some guys place. I thought she was so lucky, a free spirit, everything I longed to be.

We got into all sorts of trouble together. Like the night she ended up in a jail cell for uttering death threats, with me giving a statement to a very nice police officer, trying to convince him she really did not mean it. What I didn't tell him was that we were both out of our minds on LSD, and I had 10 more hits hidden in my bra.

Then there was the time we were hitchhiking and she managed to convince our ride to take us to the Aerosmith/Skid Row concert, pay our way there, buy us t-shirts and take us to a bar afterwards. I don't remember how we got home, but I do know we managed to ditch those guys before they expected pay back.

We were 16, and we wanted to have a good time.

We'd get into bars by flirting with the bouncers, and manage to get guys twice our age to buy us drinks.

We'd hitchhike into Toronto in the evening, walk around Yonge Street meeting people, flirt with the really hot bouncers at the strip clubs, and then take the last Go Train Home.

We loved hard rock, guys with long hair, getting drunk and getting high. We were always looking for the next party, the next guy, the next adventure.

We fought like cats and dogs sometimes, but we always ended up laughing in the end. We were both so pig-headed, and usually could not remember what it was we were fighting about. But man she could make me mad, I still have a messed up wrist on my right hand where I punched a brick wall during one of our arguments. But she taught me not to be afraid to speak my mind and I am grateful for that.

Eventually we drifted apart, as I did with all of my friends. One day she called me to tell me she was having a baby, and it turned out to be the same time I was pregnant with my oldest son. We bonded over having our babies one month apart. I went to her wedding and we got together with our kids often for about 2 years, before we drifted apart again.

Someday I would like to see her again, see how life turned out for her. I would love to see her daughter, have my son meet her. They were so sweet as babies, I wonder if she turned out like her Mom?

I just hope that life turned out okay for her. She really was a good person, maybe a little messed up, but she had a huge heart. You could not have asked for a better friend.