sj

My senior year in high school, I became friends with this girl that kind of way outclassed me.I wore men's cords and snap up western shirts under tee shirts, and was often barefoot when I could get away with it (I kept my duct taped corduroy converse in my backpack and would just slip them on when I went into class)I dyed my hair every week and went to a lot of local punk and third wave shows (srsly, a lot - like at least two a week and I rarely paid my way in).Contrast with E. who wore heels and dresses (I was shocked the first time I saw her in pants) every day, had Lucy red hair and perfectly sculpted eyebrows.I didn't understand how she could want to be my friend (much like I still am today, really), but we were super tight for a while.I met her through a kindasorta friend of mine that had a crush on her, and he thought they were dating, when they totally weren't. Anyway, we were hanging out at T.'s house and she and I were talking and totally ignoring him.She looked me up and down and I felt really uncomfortable being scrutinized, then said that she didn't think my name suited me. I had always hated my name (I've got one of those super common late-70s names, for realsies - it was the most common female name the year I was born) and when she told me that I seemed more like a Matilda to her, I was thrilled.I even let her make me over and would spend Sunday nights at her house (our school started 2 hours later every Monday) and she'd curl my hair and dress me up (oh, because WE WERE THE SAME HEIGHT AND BOTH HAD GIANT FEET) and [gasp] put makeup on me.Those Sunday nights/Monday mornings where I got to be Matilda were some of the only good parts of that year, and every time I see this book, I think of her.Of COURSE I was a huge Dahl fan when I was growing up, and I empathized so hard with little Matilda, whose parents were total selfish assholes. How I longed for a Miss Honey in my life.[sigh]Oh, and if you're interested you can hit the spoiler tag for one of the few photos of me at that age that I don't actually hate. (I'm on the right, dur)