I kept noticing her.  The contradiction of her Saks Fifth Avenue/Bonwit Teller perfect girlie-girl wardrobe and the dark brooding in her beautiful and unusual face.  She did not smile.  Kim was small like me, but opposite in that I had an eternal smile and wore tattered hand-me-downs or homemade clothes.  I was really intrigued and wanted to know what the story was behind those dark eyes of hers; almost black, that’s how dark they were.

Kim was not approachable, but somehow we did finally meet.  And we became close, finding much in common, but mostly it was just a match in chemistry.  I had never met anyone more authentic and honest.  There was something deep, powerful and haunting in my new friend.  She was a freshman and I was a sophomore in high school.  She was funny, extremely funny, though at times mean-spirited in her humor.  She never targeted her cruelty at me because she was highly aware of my fragility.  I’m not only sensitive, I’m quite thin-skinned.

Kim was also brilliant.   Well read, even at that age, she might pepper her conversations with names like Sartre and Kierkegaard.  All very vague to ditzy me, and I would constantly tell her how insecure I was about my own IQ.  She would invariably tell me that I was smart and that just because I wasn’t as well read as her meant and means nothing.  Early on, she was always giving me props for my emotional IQ. (more…)