Lately, I've been reminded of the importance of close friendships, and how similar they are to romantic relationships. If you have a friendship that fits all (or most) of these criteria, hang on to it for dear life.
1. When you fight, it's not passive aggressive. You're too upfront to do the whole “silent treatment" or “slamming the door loudly" technique. Because of that, your fights last approximately 6 seconds.
2. You text each other constantly about pretty much nothing, like “I just tripped on the sidewalk," or “I WANT CHICKEN FINGERS." Oh, and if one of you makes a typo, you bet that's gonna be a new inside joke soon.
3. You fantasize about a future together. As in, “I can't wait 'till we live in a certain city and get a dog and eat take-out on the floor."
4. You have idiotic nicknames for each other. I call one of my friends Shrek. Why? I don't know.
5. You're obsessed with the same things. And if you aren't, you accept each other's weird interests with no judgment. Or you just force her to love your obsessions, too. Why do you think so many of my friends love One Direction?
6. Your snapchats to each other are horribly unattractive, but you trust her enough not to screenshot it.
7. Your advice is basically law. You don't make major life decisions without consulting one another, and her opinion is second only to your mother's.
8. You've totally had the drunken “YOU'RE LITERALLY GONNA BE MY MAID OF HONOR" talk.
9. You know each other's dating records frontwards and backwards. You know the safe ex's and the dangerous ones, and if you see a bad one when you're out on the town, you drag your friend far, far away.
10. Speaking of boys, each other's approval of boyfriends is a must. That boy should be more nervous to meet you than your best friend's father, honestly.
11. You know how certain alcohols affect her mood. As in, “No more red wine or you're gonna start crying about your ex."
12. You don't feel embarrassed about asking her stupid questions, like “What actually is communism?" or “Is Australia a continent or a country?"
13. She is your personal photographer when you need a good picture. You also feel no guilt in making her like your Instagram posts. Sometimes you just take her phone and do it yourself.
14. Sometimes your idea of hanging out is just sitting in bed or on the couch for hours doing nothing, and it's still fun.
15. You buy each other Starbucks or just treat each other randomly. You don't really keep track of the money because it'll eventually even out.
16. When you go out together, you're a unit and don't ditch each other. If it happens anyway, which it will, you know she'll come crawl into bed with you later and apologize. That's when you force her to buy you food.
18. There are basically no boundaries. You know the passwords for all her social media accounts. You know her class and work schedule. You probably know how much money she has in the bank, too.
19. You dislike who she dislikes. She dislikes who you dislike. Even if there is no tangible reason for you to dislike this person, you dislike regardless.
20. You have way too many inside jokes. Sometimes you can say one single word and your friend will immediately start laughing or give you a piercing death glare.
21. You understand the Bridesmaids quote, “I feel I can communicate with you with simply a look" on a spiritual level. One eye roll or quick glance can convey a full monologue.
22. If your own parents couldn't bail you out of jail, you'd call hers next. You're friends with her parents, and she's friends with yours. You're most likely on a first name basis.
23. You can tell she's upset even if she tells you she's not. You have a fine-tuned BS detector with her, and if she's lying, you know.
24. Several of your conversations begin with “Do you remember that one night we …" and then you proceed to go through the night in full detail, laughing the whole time.
26. The amount of times she's screen-shotted a conversation with a boy and sent it to you with “SOS WHAT DO I SAY???" is outstanding.
28. You don't feel guilty or nervous about asking her for favors, and she doesn't make you feel like a burden, either.
29. You are each other's biggest cheerleaders. She's the person you text when you get an A on a test you studied for all night. Her successes are yours, and yours are hers. Your pride in her accomplishments always outweighs the jealousy.
30. Regardless of life choices, boys, or careers, you can't imagine life without her in it.
