[favorites]

The real OC is my favorite.

It�s for sentimental reasons. Of course, I don�t really have a favorite but I think I have favorite members at this campus, just because this was the first campus I had a upside down V experience with. I don�t think about them every day, but yes� I�m a groupie just like everyone else.

They�re all second and third years now. Not the doe eyed boys that didn�t know how to put up a canopy. All of them a more experienced then they were when they started, but all in all when I see them� I�m happy to do so. Last quarter was different. It was before all the bad stuff happened. This quarter is different, because we still treat them like nothing ever happened� the way it should be. I never changed my opinion of them ever.

I�m a big sister. I don�t get meek hellos I get �what ups� or �heys� I�m a different kinda adult I guess. I feel special. I got jokes, �Nicole keeps it real and says it how it is.� Haha� boys who barely met me put on some game on how I really do things. They know wassup, and I�m glad because it�s not just about slangin� the job� it�s about making it a cool experience. At least that�s what I want for them.

7 is my favorite because he kinda found his way to me in a non romantic fashion. We bonded over �numbers� and last quarter when I saw him, it was all about changes. Big sister in effect when he came about with stuff like that� back a few months later after the group�s changes and his own personal ones, he still flocked to the function just to say what�s up to me. Just to chill and hang out, annoy me with his difficult questions and update me on how he�s doing. Not to do the work hehe� Friends would pass by and say what�s up while we were talking and he�d say, �this is my friend Nicole.� Said friend would pass by the function all three days and say what�s up to me because of 7.

�You better fuckin� be back here for school before I leave,� I told him. He reassured me he was getting his shit together, and he knew the deal. I hope he really does, because I will kick his butt if he isn�t.

My conversations with 7 make me realize how my hard work to achieve this 2006 goal really is the real deal. I realize that my favorites are the same age of a high school senior (when they started). Still teenagers trying to find their skin, and even if I can�t prevent the bad stuff from happening� I can be there to make sure they try and make the right decisions. My relationship with my favorites reaffirms this.

I felt special this week� not because of the birthday ish, but because invested relationships were defined today. It makes me feel good to know my hard work is paying off. Although my work doesn�t know it, these relationships we build toward this group will definitely pay off in the future, and if it doesn�t and the guys worked hard because of us� and that is just so cool.

To be a kid/adult, I love it! =)