Dear 16-year-old Me

I found a writing prompt that said write a letter to your 16-year-old self. This could turn out to be really interesting.

Dear 16-year-old Me,

Gosh, it's late May of your sophomore year of high school. You had a wonderfully fun 16th birthday party at Dave and Busters a few weeks ago. Did you know that you're not really going to talk to anyone at that party anymore in just four years? Well, that's not entirely true, you still talk to Chelsea and you saw Jess the other day.

There's a few things you need to know that you honestly aren't going to see coming and you're going to need some help getting through.




Let's see, well first of all, don't make the mistake of telling Haley who you liked at the end of sophomore year. It's just going to create a whole bunch of drama that you don't need. But if you do tell her, just know that it's not as big of a deal as it seemed. The teasing wasn't as bad as you thought it was, and no one but you will remember that in four years.

Losing Mitchell as a close friend wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be either. You'll get over that too and you guys will end up being kinda friends senior year, you guys made up.

Don't worry about driving so much. You're going to pass your test on the first try and you're a good driver. You ARE cautious enough and if you had a little more faith in yourself it wouldn't have taken so long to get you on the road.

Junior year is going to make you want to pull your hair out on a regular basis. Pre-Calc and Physics are going to kick your butt. In the end, you're going to pass, but not after some tears and a lot of yelling. Upside, you're going to meet Taylor and you guys are going to become best friends and you're still going to be hanging out and doing stuff in the future. He's going to say some things that shock you, you're not going to know how to process them at first, but you're going to get over it and you're going to realize he's a much happier person now that he's able to be himself.

You're also going to be best friends with Katie for two years. You guys are going to have a LOT of fun. You're going to do everything together and share secrets and have tons of memories together. In the end, she's going to want to be more popular and grow up faster than necessary and you're going to grow apart and the way you two end your friendship is going to be over the stupidest thing. You're going to think about friending her on Facebook again, but you're not sure if you should or not. Stay friends with her through high school anyway, you guys had some fun times.

I'm going to warn you right now: DON'T GO TO THE SECOND NIGHT OF THE FAIR IN JULY IN 2011. Just don't do it. If you do, don't get attached. Don't walk over to that booth. Don't talk to anyone you wouldn't normally talk to. DON'T DO IT. You're stupid, so you're probably going to do it anyway. Just don't get in too deep. Please don't get in too deep. Attention means nothing if somebody doesn't care about anyone but themself. Upside, you got a prom date out of the deal and you're going to have an amazing prom, so it MIGHT be worth it. (And your dress is going to be fabulous)

If you go to that fair your senior year is going to be complicated. Not bad, just complicated. Well, actually from December on is going to be complicated and bad, so just avoid the situation. Aside from that, your Senior Year is going to be awesome.

Maybe go check out a few more schools, bigger schools, before you make your final decision. Actually though, you have to make the same first decision because you have to go meet Alli. She is the best person in the entire world. She brought some other great people into your life too like Molly and James so you HAVE to meet her. But, transferring your second year won't be a bad idea. Get out, go to a bigger school, find some new dreams, experience life, find a boy.

If you decide to stay, you need to avoid certain guys like the plague. They will dangle everything you want in front of your face and then completely change and rip it all away. They will wreck your heart. Avoid them. Save yourself the heartbreak.

In the end, everything is going to be okay. Everything that seemed like such a big deal won't be nearly as big a deal in four years.

You're never going to be satisfied with your looks. You're going to be insecure for a long time. You're going to be lonely. But you know what? You're going to have a pretty great life. Just don't forget that and get caught up in the sadness.

Love,
Me