Cry- cry because it’s your 15th birthday and your parents just announced that you’re packing up and leaving your small hometown in less than nine months. Cry because you just found your niche in high school and you have to abandon it to be a real family on the other side of the world. Cry because you’re frustrated and have no idea how to spell Kuwait, yet alone locate it on a map- some social studies teacher you’ll be.
Throw tantrums. Rebel against all authorities- your parents, the school, even yourself. Have an identity crisis- look longingly and hard at the girl in the mirror. Cut off all your hair and dye the remnants pink. Wait a few days and make a debut at your Sweet 16 with orange streaks. Invest in a few ear piercings so your future classmates will find you interesting.
Move 7,000 miles away. Observe your first plane ride in business class and take note of how you’ve traveled the world in your fifteen years of life yet this particular airplane ride would be different. Accept that you are more than your orange streaks and bad haircuts.
Sit alone the first few days at lunch. Be open to making new friends. Recognize the girl in your AP Lang class second period and sit with her and her new friends. Get disgusted by the boy who swoops in and destroys your first semblance of a conversation with girls your age in over a month. Begin to hold a grudge, but dismiss the thought once he opens his mind and says “hi!.” Recognize the familiarity in this complete stranger and take back any kind of bad blood you were forming.
Become intrigued by this boy. Pull up your old facebook account. Take note of his passions and how different you two are. Find all the courage in you to shoot him a life changing "hi". Become fascinated by how a simple hi will keep you awake to witness many Kuwaiti sunrises.
Observe how he looks at you in person. Appreciate how his first quick hug before the end of the day felt the most like home in that foreign country than any decoration you spent the summer crafting and adjusting to fit your room just right. Admire his chubby cheeks and big ears. Admire the way he takes pride in your biggest insecurities.
Be excited that your first date ever is different than the local food court dates your friends were accustomed to back in suburban New Jersey. Appreciate the fact that he loves your favorite movies and allows you to shamelessly quote all of "Mean Girls" on your first date.
Try new things: Play Grand Theft Auto with him for hours. Realize only the next day that you were playing the game wrong. Laugh, but don’t give up. Try new foods. You’re dating a boy in the Middle East now! Go out of your comfort zone of chicken nuggets and burgers and get a shawarma instead. Appreciate your love for shawarmas when you move back to the states and can’t get them delivered to your house on demand.
Care enough. Be his person. Notice when he’s upset and be there for him. Grab his hand and don’t let go. Let your guard down long enough to let him in. Pinch yourself in disbelief when you realize that there’s someone out there who would mess with anyone who made you unhappy, and that there’s someone out there who would die for you. For the first time, realize that there are people in your life that are worth dying for too.
Go home the summer before senior year. Realize that distance really is a bitch, and time zones were brought to you by satan himself. Remind yourself that you have a special relationship, and don’t give up. Remember that through every stupid fight, every pang of jealousy, boredom and uncertainty that comes your way. Accept that distance will be inevitable in your new relationship, but learn to overcome it.
Get accepted to your dream program and realize that life is slowly pulling you in different directions. Don’t let this effect the last few months of your senior year- just don’t.
Finish putting the final touches up in your freshman year dorm room. Stare longingly and hard at the pictures of him on your wall. Close your eyes and remember every last second of every good moment you had. Reflect on the best summer of your life and how he was there through it all. Be brave enough to let him go and come to terms with the the fact that you are still 17 and young and if it’s meant to be it’ll be.
