Boomeranger

This morning, at Sunday brunch with the girlfriends, one of them laid out old pictures of us, some of them dating back to high school. This evening, I hung out at her apartment that she will soon share with her husband, once they're married. Though we sat around drinking beers and watermelon-infused vodka, most of us with significant others that we're pretty serious about, we were playing Catchphrase, and I thought, aside from the alcohol and long-term relationships, we could still be those same high-school kids who hung out in Cait's garage on warm summer nights. Or I could anyway.

Is this what twenty-two feels like? Like time has passed since high school, but you don't feel much different inside? Perhaps it's because I moved back home, but I don't feel a whole lot wiser, worldlier, or more accomplished. I knew that I liked to read and liked books in high school; now, after getting my degree in English lit, I'm still stuck at the same place--what can I do with myself that involves books but will actually be a stable career?

I started hanging out with some of my best girlfriends the summer before my senior year. I realized tonight that that was SIX years ago. It sure doesn't feel that long ago. I wonder if most adults feel as if high school wasn't that long ago, as if they're not much different now than they were then.