For three years we watched each other grow into more mature and independent young women. We watched each other become more beautiful, intelligent, and more aware of the world around us. We laughed together at our own silliness and embarrassing moments. We went through rough days, days that seemed never ending; days that we just wanted to get through without ever looking back. We went through good days where we spent money on junk food and jeans we didn’t need. We sat together at lunch, ate homemade sandwiches or chips from the vending machines, and talked about the teachers we hated or loved. We couldn’t wait for high school to end because we wanted to go to our senior prom, get the class rings, and throw our caps in the air at graduation. That was our motivation, what kept us going. What we didn’t think about was that we’d also have to say good-bye to the most precious four years of our lives. We didn’t realize that we’d have to say good-bye to our close friends or the ones who didn’t know us but were nice enough to give us a smile from across the hall. We didn’t realize that we’d have to say good-bye to the teachers who watched out for us and listened to our incessant complaints about our problems. We didn’t realize we would have to say good-bye to four years of good, bad, sweet, and bitter memories that gave us an identity.
We were exhausted. N placed her head down on her Science text book that had a paper bag cover. E gazed somewhere else. I was thinking. Thinking about where we would all be next year and whether we’d ever see each other again. Three years ago this thought never crossed our minds; it didn’t even matter. But it mattered now. Suddenly we knew it would end. It finally hit us. N told me to stop thinking out loud. She was too tired to cry.