A Friendship To Last Forever
A Friendship To Last Forever
"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies."
- Aristotle
We've been inseparable ever since we were little. You could say that she was my rock; she never moved from my side. She was always there for me whenever I needed her and I only hoped I could do the same for her. We helped each other through hard times such as heartbreak and death. I could feel how proud of me she was whenever I did something good or rewarding. She was more of a sister to me than a friend.
I could already tell that today was going to be one of the worst days of my life. Today was the day that I would have to say goodbye to my best friend. Tomorrow, I would move to a different state and have a whole new life. I would start at a brand new school and have to get brand new friends. I would have to move away from her for the first time ever.
I heard my mother call my name from the bottom of the stairs and looked at the clock: 11:00AM. It seemed it was time to get up and get packing. I let out a long sigh as I got out of bed; I might as well just get this day over with. It was bound to get here sooner or later. I got dressed and went downstairs as soon as possible. I could not take seeing my room and all my precious memories carelessly packed away; it made me claustrophobic. Now, the only things left to pack away were the things we needed for today. When I got downstairs and went into the kitchen, I saw that the only thing left in the pantry was a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. I took out a paper bowl and plastic spoon and began to eat quickly. I knew that my mother was about to go crazy with stress about moving tomorrow and I certainly didn't want to be here for the worst of the storm.
As I went back upstairs to gather my things to go out, I went out of my way to make sure that I didn't look at anything besides what was right ahead of me. I didn't want to look around and see the barrenness of my now empty house. This place felt like it wasn't my home anymore; the rooms were empty of furniture and the walls were devoid of pictures. There were no more signs left in the house that my family had lived here.
Fifteen minutes later, I was in my car and on the way to her house for the final goodbye. Driving was the only thing that felt completely normal to me; everything else in my life was foreign. I have lived in the same town in the same house for my entire life so far and it was all about to change. No matter where I went or what I did, driving would always feel the same to me. When I stopped at the traffic light, I decided to put the top down in my silver convertible. There was nothing more refreshing or relaxing than feeling the wind whoosh through my hair as I drove through my home town.
Her house was small. After all this time, I still don't know how all those people could fit into that tiny little house, but they always made it work. Every time I went over there, there were always a bunch of people sitting on the couches in the living room. Sometimes, it made me jealous how close her family was both in emotion and location. I was the only child left in my family; all my siblings moved away for college, whereas everyone in her family lived in the same town and saw each other almost every day. Now it would be different though. Soon, she would have to drive two hours south to see a member of her extended family.
I knocked on the door and smiled as I heard the dogs barking at the noise I had made. It felt just like every other time I came here. A few minutes later, the curtain moved a fraction of an inch and the door opened. We exchanged greetings like normal and walked back to her room in the back of the house where we could have some privacy. I saw her standing there wearing the shirt we bought together just a few months ago and smiled as I unzipped my jacket showing her that I was wearing the same thing. We sat down on her bed and looked at each other awkwardly.
“Sooo...” she said looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she brushed her long blond hair behind her shoulder.
“Sooo...” I repeated. Neither of us knew what to say. We sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking about what was to come.
“What time do you have to leave tomorrow?” she finally asked quietly. She was no longer looking at me. Instead, her light blue eyes focused their attention on her crossed feet.
“Around 10AM. My mom wants to get there before noon so that we can have a lot of time to unpack.”
“Oh,” she said simply. Then, a thought occurred to her. “Why are we sitting here? It's your last day at home. We need to go out and have fun. Who knows when we will have this opportunity again?”
When I agreed, she jumped up, grabbed her keys, took my arm and pulled me out of the room. “Where are we going?” I asked as she practically pushed me down the stairs.
“You'll see. It'll be an adventure.”
And it was. Each place she took me held some kind of significance to our relationship. First, she took me to Friendlys where we always used to go to eat ice cream and vent about different aspects of each of our lives. Then, we went to the bowling alley and laughed at how bad of a bowler I was. After that, we went to a local place called the Funplex and went on a bunch of different rides just like we used to do every summer. While we were driving to each place, she surprised me with a mix CD filled with songs that brought back memories of us, whether they were of when we went to concerts or when we had silly dance parties during sleepovers or just songs that we both happened to like. For dinner, we went to our favorite restaurant: The Olive Garden. We would always order our favorite food and spend time looking at the waiters we thought were cute. Unfortunately, after dinner, it was time to return to the real world.
We were silent as she drove back to her house. We each saw the doom that was staring us in the face, but neither of us wanted to acknowledge it. When we got back up to her room, we sat back down on her bed again.
“Well, I guess this is it,” I said sadly.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she responded. “But, before you go, I have something I want to give you.” She went over to her desk and took a small book out of her drawer and handed it to me. There was a picture of the two of us the day we met when we were little on the cover with the words “What A Wonderful World” written on it, which was a song we sang together for a duet. I opened the book to find pictures and objects such as concert tickets, drawings, nicknames, words and phrases that we made up, and quotes that chronicled our relationship throughout the years. Every time I flipped to another page, it brought back another memory. I felt my face grow hot as the tears began to spill from my eyes and I wiped them away impatiently.
“I-I don't know what to say.” There weren't any words to describe what I was feeling right now. I felt so lucky to have a friend like her, but how could I leave her behind? I tore my eyes away from the scrapbook and looked up at her. That one look was all it took. She came over to me and I put the book aside and stood up to hug her. As soon as we were in each other's arms, our emotions collapsed. We stood there hugging and sobbing for a very long time.
One week later, I was all moved in to my new home, but nothing felt right. I was trapped in a place I had never been before and forced to be with people I had never seen before. This new life was like a language I did not know how to speak; I would have to learn it and get used to the way it sounded on my tongue before I could speak it fluently.
I attended my new school with jittery fingers and butterflies fluttering in my stomach. People stared at me in wonder as I walked through the hallways trying to find my classes; they were all wondering who this new girl was. No one introduced him or herself to me and some of my teachers made me stand in front of the class and talk about myself. I had to eat lunch at a table all by myself while everyone around me was laughing and talking happily about one thing or another. Talk about a nightmare.
Naturally, I was in a completely sour mood when I got home from the hell that most called school that day. Nothing had gone right; I did not make any new friends and my life was not any better than it was before. A loud sound came blaring from my pocket as my cell phone started to ring. I yanked it out and smiled in spite of myself when I saw who the caller was. It was my best friend. I knew that, no matter how bad things got, I would always have her. No amount of distance would ever change that.
- Aristotle
We've been inseparable ever since we were little. You could say that she was my rock; she never moved from my side. She was always there for me whenever I needed her and I only hoped I could do the same for her. We helped each other through hard times such as heartbreak and death. I could feel how proud of me she was whenever I did something good or rewarding. She was more of a sister to me than a friend.
I could already tell that today was going to be one of the worst days of my life. Today was the day that I would have to say goodbye to my best friend. Tomorrow, I would move to a different state and have a whole new life. I would start at a brand new school and have to get brand new friends. I would have to move away from her for the first time ever.
I heard my mother call my name from the bottom of the stairs and looked at the clock: 11:00AM. It seemed it was time to get up and get packing. I let out a long sigh as I got out of bed; I might as well just get this day over with. It was bound to get here sooner or later. I got dressed and went downstairs as soon as possible. I could not take seeing my room and all my precious memories carelessly packed away; it made me claustrophobic. Now, the only things left to pack away were the things we needed for today. When I got downstairs and went into the kitchen, I saw that the only thing left in the pantry was a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. I took out a paper bowl and plastic spoon and began to eat quickly. I knew that my mother was about to go crazy with stress about moving tomorrow and I certainly didn't want to be here for the worst of the storm.
As I went back upstairs to gather my things to go out, I went out of my way to make sure that I didn't look at anything besides what was right ahead of me. I didn't want to look around and see the barrenness of my now empty house. This place felt like it wasn't my home anymore; the rooms were empty of furniture and the walls were devoid of pictures. There were no more signs left in the house that my family had lived here.
Fifteen minutes later, I was in my car and on the way to her house for the final goodbye. Driving was the only thing that felt completely normal to me; everything else in my life was foreign. I have lived in the same town in the same house for my entire life so far and it was all about to change. No matter where I went or what I did, driving would always feel the same to me. When I stopped at the traffic light, I decided to put the top down in my silver convertible. There was nothing more refreshing or relaxing than feeling the wind whoosh through my hair as I drove through my home town.
Her house was small. After all this time, I still don't know how all those people could fit into that tiny little house, but they always made it work. Every time I went over there, there were always a bunch of people sitting on the couches in the living room. Sometimes, it made me jealous how close her family was both in emotion and location. I was the only child left in my family; all my siblings moved away for college, whereas everyone in her family lived in the same town and saw each other almost every day. Now it would be different though. Soon, she would have to drive two hours south to see a member of her extended family.
I knocked on the door and smiled as I heard the dogs barking at the noise I had made. It felt just like every other time I came here. A few minutes later, the curtain moved a fraction of an inch and the door opened. We exchanged greetings like normal and walked back to her room in the back of the house where we could have some privacy. I saw her standing there wearing the shirt we bought together just a few months ago and smiled as I unzipped my jacket showing her that I was wearing the same thing. We sat down on her bed and looked at each other awkwardly.
“Sooo...” she said looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she brushed her long blond hair behind her shoulder.
“Sooo...” I repeated. Neither of us knew what to say. We sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking about what was to come.
“What time do you have to leave tomorrow?” she finally asked quietly. She was no longer looking at me. Instead, her light blue eyes focused their attention on her crossed feet.
“Around 10AM. My mom wants to get there before noon so that we can have a lot of time to unpack.”
“Oh,” she said simply. Then, a thought occurred to her. “Why are we sitting here? It's your last day at home. We need to go out and have fun. Who knows when we will have this opportunity again?”
When I agreed, she jumped up, grabbed her keys, took my arm and pulled me out of the room. “Where are we going?” I asked as she practically pushed me down the stairs.
“You'll see. It'll be an adventure.”
And it was. Each place she took me held some kind of significance to our relationship. First, she took me to Friendlys where we always used to go to eat ice cream and vent about different aspects of each of our lives. Then, we went to the bowling alley and laughed at how bad of a bowler I was. After that, we went to a local place called the Funplex and went on a bunch of different rides just like we used to do every summer. While we were driving to each place, she surprised me with a mix CD filled with songs that brought back memories of us, whether they were of when we went to concerts or when we had silly dance parties during sleepovers or just songs that we both happened to like. For dinner, we went to our favorite restaurant: The Olive Garden. We would always order our favorite food and spend time looking at the waiters we thought were cute. Unfortunately, after dinner, it was time to return to the real world.
We were silent as she drove back to her house. We each saw the doom that was staring us in the face, but neither of us wanted to acknowledge it. When we got back up to her room, we sat back down on her bed again.
“Well, I guess this is it,” I said sadly.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she responded. “But, before you go, I have something I want to give you.” She went over to her desk and took a small book out of her drawer and handed it to me. There was a picture of the two of us the day we met when we were little on the cover with the words “What A Wonderful World” written on it, which was a song we sang together for a duet. I opened the book to find pictures and objects such as concert tickets, drawings, nicknames, words and phrases that we made up, and quotes that chronicled our relationship throughout the years. Every time I flipped to another page, it brought back another memory. I felt my face grow hot as the tears began to spill from my eyes and I wiped them away impatiently.
“I-I don't know what to say.” There weren't any words to describe what I was feeling right now. I felt so lucky to have a friend like her, but how could I leave her behind? I tore my eyes away from the scrapbook and looked up at her. That one look was all it took. She came over to me and I put the book aside and stood up to hug her. As soon as we were in each other's arms, our emotions collapsed. We stood there hugging and sobbing for a very long time.
One week later, I was all moved in to my new home, but nothing felt right. I was trapped in a place I had never been before and forced to be with people I had never seen before. This new life was like a language I did not know how to speak; I would have to learn it and get used to the way it sounded on my tongue before I could speak it fluently.
I attended my new school with jittery fingers and butterflies fluttering in my stomach. People stared at me in wonder as I walked through the hallways trying to find my classes; they were all wondering who this new girl was. No one introduced him or herself to me and some of my teachers made me stand in front of the class and talk about myself. I had to eat lunch at a table all by myself while everyone around me was laughing and talking happily about one thing or another. Talk about a nightmare.
Naturally, I was in a completely sour mood when I got home from the hell that most called school that day. Nothing had gone right; I did not make any new friends and my life was not any better than it was before. A loud sound came blaring from my pocket as my cell phone started to ring. I yanked it out and smiled in spite of myself when I saw who the caller was. It was my best friend. I knew that, no matter how bad things got, I would always have her. No amount of distance would ever change that.