The kind of friends.

Starting a new year was never supposed to be about leaving home or family. It was never supposed to be about uprooting your life from the home you've been part of for years. It was never supposed to be about taking off all your decorations from your own room and having to redecorate a new room.

This was the thought with which I started off the first few days in college. It was disheartening to start a new life all over again. For a very social person like me, college was something I expected to be fun but all I got was disappointment. In the initial days, I had my share of fun but then once things started settling in and people found their comfort group, I was left without one.

I had three close friends in class, and they were more than enough but I also had set expectations about the social life I was going to have, making new friends every single day and being part of an amazing friend group. The first week was hard with my friends having a hard time settling in and me not being able to fit in anywhere. But, even during these hard times, we managed to make two more friends, who were also our classmates - two amazing people, I had least expected to one day be close friends to. Soon, all six of us started hanging out more often. Life is full of surprises is all I have to say. Well, more surprises were yet to come, I had no clue then.

One day, my best friend introduced us to one of his online friends from college and he introduced us to more of his friends. It was fun; we were finally meeting new people and it was exciting. We hung out every now and then. Initially it was hard for a few of them to adjust to the new group, but before we knew it, we grew inseparable. We met everyday, spent every bit of time we had with each other. They are amazing people and I know they're the kind who stick around. I have always been insecure about my ability to make friends and even more insecure about if or not they'll stay in my life. Now I know that I have no reason to be.

I know the kind of friends whom you can count on. I know the kind of friends who will reach out to you when they sense the slightest difference in you. I know the kind of friends who are trustworthy. I know the kind of friends who'll walk with you and hold you close (literally) when you're afraid to walk alone. I know the kind of friends who'll miss you when you're not around. I know the kind of friends whose hugs can just bring you back to life when you feel dead on the inside. I know the kind of friends who'll dance with you to make you laugh and play sad songs to make you cry and then cry with you. I know the kind of friends who listen, who understand, who make fun of you, who laugh at you and then help you through times when you need support. Because that's the kind of friends I have.

Apart from them, I even made other friends, every other day in the most random moments - either while sitting alone at a bench singing or while petting a dog.

After one month of laughter, fun, tears, drama and joy, I left college for my summer break. Ever since, all of us have been counting down the days until the next time we meet. Living a lifetime in a month sounds impossible - but that's what seemed to have happened. And that's what happened to my set expectations of the social life in college - meeting new people every single day and being part of an amazing friend group.