When Best Friends Become Strangers

screen. UCLA. My dream s

y Statement of Intent to

the mouse, a tremor r

this would have been

lt like a

nd my eyelids. Olivia and Maya, their arms linked with Li

mach c

eep breath, and navigated

r, Yale' s accept

Your En

final hours bef

er clic

actic "Confirmation Succ

ld and sharp washing over me. Not reg

and walked

rner was a silve

le school. Grinning, arms

ct. "EOM Forever." UCLA togeth

ike I was

adventure, a promise of a

in the photo se

ised. Maya, fiercely

e frame. The g

hispered, the word

the photo out, and tor

he empty frame in

a holl

y life anymore," I s

ivia. N

ce was

ean

about a college.

zzed on the

up: "EOM (and

still grated. They'd

ked i

he pics from Kendra's pre-gr

owed. Liam, Olivia, and

uch a model! That new ja

ly outshone everyone. We need to

w tig

ssages, their plans, their inside joke

s were sparse,

Spencer transferred to N

e sure everyone knew. Played u

with that

a were captiva

" Olivia had said, her eye

"He's been through a lot. W

out f

for him ever since, and I

u need for next week, just

," Maya added, w

ssages pop up, o

hing a movie I w

very predi

st friends since

Repl

hanksgiving. Our an

pilled a full glass of re

coding projects, m

ry! I' m such a klutz. I don' t know how I' ll

ya had rushed

, it was an accide

" Maya said, patting Liam' s arm. "He can get

ted Liam with a brand-new

," Olivia anno

it, Liam,"

e weeks of allowance to get

never

another phot

sweatshirt. The one I' d left

in Olivia' s perfectly

"Borrowing from the best! 😉 Th

weat

mine. They kn

chat, my fingers stiff.

of si

ld borrow it. It' s super comfy! Hope you don'

word felt

n, don' t be like that. Liam wa

not a big deal. We can buy you an

anoth

ld be fixed with th

elings did

ing me in sixth grade when

to him, fierce

ck up the pieces, her

aved allowances, a cheap plastic frame I'

e those g

e never really there. M

p it. Conside

red over the

leted the

ldn' t understand. T

ed the

ered, thinking of Liam. "Y

t them out, felt more right than

as my