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…)