Nikki's Perspective: When I first met Sam in the 7th grade, I hated her with a passion. This is because (as I am sure you know if you have met Sam) she is the funniest person in the room. Being funny was MY ecological niche and here she was with her Bellatrix Lestrange choker and green skull jacket coming into my territory? No! Fortunately for me my attempts to scare off this perceived threat to my status all failed. Sam became a fixture in my life, one who I could text in the middle of the night about my latest obsession, tease relentlessly about her pronunciation of the word "bagel", and riff off of in an improv scene. We danced around each other all of high school until finally after graduation and a trip to Elephant Rocks, we gave in and combined our forces for good. (Or evil. We haven't decided yet.) Sam’s Perspective When I first saw Nikki in 7th grade, I knew immediately that I wanted to be her friend. This process was similar to befriending a wild animal. I spent countless hours researching things Nikki liked, studying up on her favorite TV shows and music, just for the opportunity to casually slip something into our conversation and seem Very Cool. This usually did not work. Her behavior was erratic, one minute she would karate chop me in the side and the next she would wordlessly pass me the kindest of notes. Sometimes, Nikki would bring me mysterious trinkets, like the entire contents of the junk drawer of her desk in a plastic bag, and I would be left wondering what it all meant for weeks. In my studies, however, I did figure out that I was deeply in love with Nikki. I waited patiently for the opportunity after graduating high school for Nikki to ask me out, so I could say “Idk if I am gay or ready for that sort of thing” as though I hadn’t spent the last 5 years openly fawning over her. After having known Nikki for 12 years, I think I mostly have her figured out. Like any wild animal, she still has some surprises up her sleeve, but she will eat out of my hand now, so that’s an improvement.