By Lauren Ramos

everything i know about female friendships

pink nail polish is coated on my tiny fingernails.

there are feathers on the floor,

costume jewelry and tulle tutus are sprawled across the bed.

my mother’s white jessica simpson wedges are a coveted accessory today,

since being retired by my mother herself.

laughter fills the air as my best friends paint my little eyelids with sparkly eyeshadow.

the same fearless cd begins for the third time.

i don’t care about the mess,

i don’t care about the noise.

i’m just a young girl,

experiencing the euphoria of this moment which has come along with being 10 years old

and having the best of friends.

afternoons of polly pockets would become fashion shows in my living room,

and fashion shows would become school dances,

and school dances would become weekend parties.

rides in my best friends’ moms’ minivans would become driving tests and sweet sixteens,

and driving tests and sweet sixteens would become first speeding tickets and screaming taylor swift late into the night.

my favorite color would go from pink to blue,

then to red,

green,

and back to pink.

oh, girlhood,

how you have stayed the same,

even as i’ve changed.

i’ve learned a lot since 10 years old.

all of a sudden, i am no longer in my childhood bedroom.

i am no longer a little girl,

i’m 21 in my junior year.

i no longer speak to the girls who painted glitter across my eyelids except every so often.

it does not pain me.

i know distance comes with growing up.

but, some things never change.

the jump from home towns and cheerleading squads to college towns and new organizations was huge,

but the women around me have kept me on the ground.

there is makeup all over the desktop,

clothes cover my floor, begging to be returned to their hangers.

purses have been thrown onto my bed,

gold jewelry hangs atop my dresser.

once again, laughter fills the air.

it is accompanied with gossipping mouths and reputation floating alongside.

i see the parallel between my nights out and my childhood fashion shows.

there is something magical in the way my girl friends love me.

now, we’re 21, getting ready for a night out,

but deep down,

we’re just girls playing dress up.