After what felt like hours, Daisy and I finally pulled ourselves out from the lake and flopped onto the muddy banks. Dennis and Kylie were still swimming around, stopping every few seconds to embrace each other. I couldn’t tell if they were drunk from love or the empty bottles that scattered across the grass, but their laugher and words were sloppier with every second.

Daisy wrapped herself in her towel, walking to the bench opposite the banks. We had come here as our final get together before we headed university. Well, Kylie and I still had one year left of high school and Dennis was bound to end up back here after a year. Daisy was set on perusing her literature degree further and from the years I’d been her friend, I knew she wouldn’t give up without a fight. I followed her and sat beside her, leaning on her shoulder and reading the book she had pulled up on her phone.

She smiled and laid her head on mine. She was more than a friend to me and moments like these had made me constantly question if she felt the same. Crushing on a friend was never an easy path, especially when that friend had never said a word about her feelings towards anyone. She had one girlfriend back in ninth grade, but they broke it off within a month and Daisy never uttered a single word since. She always kept her crushes secret, even to us four who knew every small detail about Daisy’s personal adventures.

The others began splashing each other, turning both our attention to their antics. Daisy turned her phone off and slid it back into her bag, sitting up properly.

“So…” I awkwardly forced out of my mouth, draining the rest of the water from my hair. “You excited to be moving away next week?”

“Absolutely terrified,” she giggled, turning slightly and focusing on my face. Her lips were in a soft smile as she pushed her hair back. Daisy had always had long hair and usually wore plaits; however, she made a big decision to cut her hair just before lower than her shoulders and leave it untouched. It made her face shape seem softer and brought out her eyes slightly more, she looked perfect. “I guess that’s why I went with a few big changes in style to try and stop myself from freaking out, but I haven’t been able to stop this twisty feeling in my stomach since I finally got accepted to the flats.”

My cheeks burned, realising that she was leaving so soon and everything was changing. I wouldn’t have any chance to tell her and my words would be left behind. “Yeah, I guess that’s going to cause panic, but I know you. You’ll love it.”

Her smile widened, “I’m sure I will.” She watched the others momentarily before looking back to me. “Alice, know I will always be here for you. You will still get annoying messages every day.”

“Thank god, I can’t lose you completely.” I sighed. This was my big moment, my only chance. “I actually need to tell you something, before you run off and I lose the confidence to admit it.”

Her eyes softened along with her smile; I can’t tell if my nerves intensified or settled.

Anxiety bubbled up inside my stomach. “I have feelings for you.”

Daisy smiled then dropped her head, twiddling with her thumbs. “Alice, you know I love you unconditionally,” for a moment my heart lifted, “but, sadly your feelings are … unrequited. Not to sound all Shakespeare, but I don’t know how else to let you down and still tell you you’re my favourite person.”

I could feel my heart breaking into different pieces; on the other hand, she had been able to find the words to form temporary plasters over the cracks that had just formed.

“Sorry,” I let out a small croak.

“Aw, Alice.” She pulled me in for a hug. “I honestly feel bad, but I don’t ever want to lead you on. I actually was in your position a year ago and I was so embarrassed but she’s still one of my closest friends.”

I raised my eyebrows slightly, still feeling very fragile.

“Before Dennis, I had a small crush on Kylie.” She laughed, pulling away.

My heart felt complete again, everything felt normal and me and Alice were sat there laughing like there was no tomorrow. I felt embarrassed, however the moment felt normal.

It would take a while to get over it, but I still had Daisy.