Oldest friends, Part II

Expanding on my previous post of the people I'm currently (at least somewhat) in touch with, whom I've known the longest. A brief history of how these friendships came to be:

1. Pam (1986). I don't remember meeting Pam, per se, but the first time we hung out was after school. I was supposed be on the bus home but decided to be irresponsible. It may have been one of my first times being consciously rebellious. Pam and I walked downtown, where she bought Madonna's self-titled LP. She took me back to her house, where I met her family and endeared myself to them by writing a horror-story spoof about them. It was also the first time I had seen a child flip off his/her parents. (I'm not saying which child.) Then they drove me home.

2. Mary (1987). The gal who nicknamed me Byf. I named her Phys. (The back story isn't terribly interesting.) I met her on the first day of school in eighth grade as she was walking down the hall with Pam. I recall asking Pam, "Who is this creature?"

3. Mark (1989). Met him in Spanish class in the tenth grade. Realized he was as big a smart-ass as I but better at hiding it. The first time I ever sneaked out of my house I went to Mark's. I don't remember what we accomplished. We probably just smoked on his back porch or something.

4. Jenn (1989). Phys introduced me to her at a high school football game, during which I proceeded to sexually harass her. Strangely enough, she kept coming back for more. (More Byf, not more sexual harassment.) She's the one who popularized Byf as my nickname.

5. Nick (1990). Jenn's onetime boyfriend. I had a crush on him. How stupid. I think the first time I met him he was in his football gear. Maybe that's why.

6. Laura (1991). I'm switching the order a little bit here because writing about all this jogged my memory. I met Laura at journalism camp at Northwestern. (Is there a thing nerdier than band camp? It appears so.) Another kindred smart-ass. On the first day we were looking at the list of rules and puzzling over why there were only 19. So we added a 20th rule: "Do not make fun of the rules." By the end of the summer we had come up with a list of 500 rules and were National High School Institute-Journalism legends.

7. Mara (1991). I remember seeing Mara when we were at Central Intermediate together, but I didn't get to know her until she was a senior in high school and we were on the school paper together. I recall a water fight in the halls, I think, or maybe we were spitting on each other. It involved clear liquids, at any rate.

8. Amy (1991). Another newspaper friend, and today my dearest. She actually had a crush on me. We really got to know each other the summer after my senior year, when she, Mark, another girl and myself would hang out at various lakes, restaurants or parks. (The only places in Midland for teens to play, essentially.)

9. Amy, Danielle, Jessica and Ruth (1992). I met them all at once, for the most part, when I went off to college. I was on crutches and so unable to socialize and meet new people with ease, so I hung out often at a casual high school friend's dorm. They lived on the same floor. Wild times ensued. One especially fond memory is of running up and down the halls of the dorm late at night writing on everyone's dry-erase boards, "Albert, Albert, what are you doing with that big paper rock you made?" (An obscure "Little House" reference.)

10. Dillard (1992). He was also a friend of another girl on that dorm's floor. I was fascinated with him because he wrote militant gay columns in the college newspaper, and I was a burgeoning gaywad myself. I crutched into the girl's room obnoxiously, and he sneered. I don't rightly remember the first time we properly hung out, but I'm sure it involved beer.

OK, now, give me your stories! (I'd especially like to know how some of you recall meeting me.)