It was a Wednesday in October of 2004. At the Children’s Courtyard preschool, the 2-and-3-year-old children bounced off the walls of each room with energy and joy.
The only break from the routine was the new girl. Shyly, she stood behind her mother’s legs at the front of the room while her mom talked to the teacher. She looked nervous as she watched the other kids go about their days.
At the other end of the room was another girl. She had been going to the preschool since she turned 2, eight months prior. She stood in the back, playing with Legos. Then, she noticed the new girl. Without a second thought, she put down her Legos, walked up to the front of the room and asked a question which would change the course of their history:
“Do you want to be best friends?”
Throughout elementary school, the girls stayed thick as thieves. From Girl Scout meetings to countless nights spent at each other’s houses, they were inseparable.
One girl’s dad became sick when the girls were too young to understand what it meant. In third grade, it took a turn for the worse. She and her family needed all the support they could get. She could always count on her best friend for a helping hand.
The other girl had a set of bunk beds in her room with her best friend’s name on it. The girls sat in the room together late that night, talking about how awesome it was that she was sleeping over, even when they had school the next day.
The girls slept soundly in the bunks, content and giddy to be having a sleepover on a school night. At the age of 8, they felt untouchable.
The girls grew older, barely blossoming into teenagers. In seventh grade, they had three classes in a row together: science, history and math.
Obviously, they were inseparable in each of those classes.
In science, they were separated by a seating chart, but shared giggles and stole glances whenever they could. In history, they sat shoulder to shoulder in a row of three desks. In math, they sat at the same table.
The one exception, the only day they didn’t share as much as a glance, was over something so trivial as a boy. At the time, it felt like an everlasting bond had been broken.
Neither girl spoke a word to the other the entire day. One was silently in tears as the piercing silence filled the six-inch gap between their desks. The other was too angry to speak.
They hadn’t taken the time to understand the other. The girls had fought relentlessly the night before over the phone.
It felt like the end—but it wasn’t.
That evening, apologies were shared and tears were shed together. Their friendship was vastly more important to the girls than any middle school boy could ever be.
Since the two were always together, their music taste mimicked one another. Upon getting old enough to look forward to and enjoy concerts, they almost never went to them without each other.
Starting the summer after eighth grade, they went to a concert for Panic! At The Disco, a band the two adored for years before. With matching T-shirts, they had a blast staying out late. They slept in their sloppy middle school makeup and passed out together in one of the girls’ beds.
Years later, halfway into high school, the pair went to another concert for a group they admired for even longer. As well, they went to a concert without parental supervision, responsible for each other. The taste of independence was sweet to the two.
Concerts came and went. They took turns staying at the other’s house, depending on who was closer to the venue. The only constant was the two girls together.
After nine years of continuing on with their Girl Scouts journey, the pair finally reached one of the highest points within the organization, a trip to the Big Apple itself. They had shared several once-in-a-lifetime moments together, and this was just another one to add to the long list.
The two participated in more than twice as many cookie booth sales as normal that year. In doing so, they were able to make their way to New York City, leaving just a few days after their last day of middle school.
Once arriving, they gazed out the window in awe of the city before them. For many people, this moment was just a dream, but for them it was real.
On Wednesday, June 9, 2016, having just visited the Brooklyn Bridge, the girls sat on a nearby bench while the adults of the group were planning out their next steps. One laid down to rest in the other’s lap, while the other was on her phone.
“Are you two siblings, or are you dating?” someone on the trip with them questioned.
The girls laughed and denied both, having heard the former question be asked several times before but never the latter.
High school flew by for them. Before they knew it, they were planning a senior trip to San Antonio. Along with two other close friends, the four road-tripped together.
Late night walks along the riverwalk, ice cream runs and talking until the sun came up defined the trip. The quartet was inseparable, especially the pair who had been close-knit for over a decade.
Inside jokes were made and promptly listed that they all laughed about for months to come. Despite the brevity of the weekend, the group made every second noteworthy.
Time spent relaxing by the pool or doing each others makeup, the two reminisced over how they have stuck so close with each other throughout the years, sticking together from preschool field trips to spontaneous road trips in their senior year.
One girl found her passion in high school much earlier than the other. A school newspaper publication caught her eye, while the other slowly tried to catch up. It was a split-second decision right in between two semesters of junior year, the girl finally joined newspaper alongside her long-time friend.
The stress was high for her because she hadn’t taken a journalism class in a handful of semesters, but her interest outbeat her anxieties. Her other half being her own boss was intimidating, but only for the hour and a half the class lasted.
Once she obtained her own editor position, she became her friend’s right hand man rather than just a regular person on staff. The two now shared positions of similar duties in an organization they enjoy.
From having done almost everything together they could, their friendship strengthened day by day, even when it seemed as it couldn’t anymore. They worked well together.
The girls relied heavily on each other to make it through the week. One girl drove the other home every day after school. They’d gotten coffee together so often, they had each other’s orders memorized by heart.
When events after school ran late into the evening, one girl frequently spends the night at the other’s house. With one girl on the bed and the other on the floor, they slept peacefully. No need for the formalities of a traditional sleepover. The girls’ houses were each other’s home away from home. The girls’ families became each other’s “adoptive family.”
Fifteen years of friendship led the girls to that point. The girls trusted each other and are comfortable with each other at a level which wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Though college has approached quicker than either girl would care to admit, they find comfort in enjoying the remainder of high school while it lasts. With one girl going to school more than 10 hours away and the other staying at home, neither girl will ever quite be ready to let go, but that’s what makes the memories feel so sweet while they still last.