It all started my freshman year of high school before the weekly football games. I was a part of our school color guard, and we were all waiting in line before candencing down to the stadium. Right before we were about to leave, a friend of mine came up and asked my friends and I to hold on to his bag and his hat. We agreed and gladly took his items. However, we were in line for a very long time, and I got bored. I took the hat and named it Kylie.
I was reminded of Flat Stanley, the little paper man we made as elementary schoolers and took on adventures. I thought that it would be fun to whip out our phones and take pictures with it, and so we did. Little did I know that those simple actions would be the start of something new. In the short span of 10 minutes, we grew extremely fond of Kylie. She wasn’t an "it" anymore. She was more than just a hat. When our friend asked for her back, we refused. I don't remember what exactly happened, but he was definitely thought that we were out of our minds.
At the time, it was a side of me that none of my friends ever saw. To other people, I was the quiet Asian who did well in school and didn't talk outside of her friend circle. Quite frankly, I never truly belonged to that group, and oftentimes, I felt excluded. A part of this was because I was quiet and didn’t talk. To other people, I was the composed one who had all the knowledge in the world. For me to name a hat and take it on adventures was something that others would think I'd never do.
We had to give Kylie back, but we kidnapped her again during the third quarter, our break time. We took many pictures with it, and since then, my friends and I made it a mission to steal Kylie every game.
And stealing is quite fun, turns out.
Taken out of context, it would seem that we were criminals. Whenever our friend wasn’t looking, we would take Kylie out of his bag. We would come up with plans to find, steal and hide Kylie. We would make note of how long we’ve had Kylie until we’re caught. We were the girls who were obsessed with his hat, and no one quite understood what it was all about. But to us, it was a game meant to be taken seriously.
After a while, a group chat was created to share plans to retrieve Kylie, and we named it the "Kylie Klan." A few weeks later, the owner was added in as well. That group chat immediately blew up, and we eventually all bonded through this chat. We shared the most random things and complain about the ongoings in life. To this day, the group chat is still active. Given that it has been more than a year, I think that it’s pretty impressive.
What this taught me is to not be afraid of speaking out. If you have something to say, say it. I also learned that it’s okay to go a bit out of your comfort zone because you don’t know what opportunities and experiences are down the road.
If I didn’t name Kylie, there would be no adventures. There wouldn’t be the bonfires with ghost marshmallows, nor would there be the surprise visits (and kidnapping) from friends. There wouldn’t be the time we fit three people in the front seat of a golf cart, nor would there be the time we spent together at Chick-fil-a. And through my new friends, I’ve become friends with so many more people. I got to experience what it’s like with their friends, and I learned so much about other people. I found an amazing group of friends who are always there to support each other. I found more self-confidence in this experience, and it’s shocking to see the results. The five of us are completely different people, and without Kylie, I can bet that most of us wouldn’t even talk to each other. It’s amazing because my experiences could’ve been different, if I had done something different.
As for Kylie the hat, we gathered her pictures and made an album named "Kylie's Adventures." Whenever one of us has to go somewhere for things such as breaks, we bring her along and take pictures. She has traveled to places such as Haiti, Iceland and the different parts of the United States. We took things to the next level and even made her an Instagram account, @kylieklanofficial, which is composed of her adventures. You can also add her on Snapchat (@kylieklan).
And though Kylie isn’t the main focus of this little friend group anymore, the friendship remains. We’ve been through so much together, from the heat of band camp to near-death encounters of bad driving.
Who knew that a hat would’ve caused all this?