I met her when I was five and she decided that I would be her best friend when we were in kindergarten. She had the ability to easily fill up the room with her effervescent energy. I, on the other hand, was quieter than most and needed her to help me make new friends.

When we were eight, we promised that we would marry each other if neither of us was in a relationship when we were thirty. It seemed so far off, there wasn’t a chance that we would still be single by then.

When we were fifteen, I got my first girlfriend. A year later, she got her first boyfriend. We were both in relationships on and off throughout high school.

We went to different colleges, but still remained close friends. We hung out whenever we could, keeping each other updated on our lives.

—— ——

We were only a few months away from graduating college. I had a rare long weekend and she didn’t have classes until the next afternoon. Her roommate was out of town for the week, so I was chilling in her dorm room with her. She had a boyfriend, but they had been going through a rough patch. To distract her, we binge watched some of her favorite movies. I was single, so I didn’t have to worry about a girl being jealous or anything.

We just started our forth movie. It was only about seven in the evening, but for some reason we were both super slap happy. We just couldn’t stop laughing at each other.

She threw a handful of popcorn at me, and of course I had to retaliate. I stood up and grabbed my bowl, claiming my popcorn needed more salt. I walked behind the couch and dumped it on her head. She shrieked and jumped up, leaning over the back of the couch to hit me. I leaned back just enough to where she couldn’t, but my arms were still long enough to where I could boop her nose.

She’s always gotten annoyed when I boop her nose, ever since we were kids. She crinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at me. I leaned towards her to shake the popcorn crumbs out of her hair.

She looked up at me and pursed her lips. I found my hands resting on the sides of her head. She cocked her head at me and I snapped out of my trance. I pushed her to the side with my hand and she caught herself with her hand on the armrest.

I put my hand on the back of the couch and jumped over it, landing right next to her, kind of showing off, not going to lie. She hit me with her shoulder. I pushed her back lightly.

I was distinctly aware that our legs were touching for some reason. I didn’t know why, but my brain kept going back to that fact. I was wearing sweatpants as well, it wasn’t like it was skin on skin contact or anything.

In fact, almost our entire bodies were touching. The right side of her body was pressed against my left. It’s not like we haven’t sat like that before, why is it so important to me now?

We settled down a little, and tried watching the movie. It was one that she had loved since we were in high school and had made me watch multiple times. It was boring, but she loved it, so we watched it. She laid her head on my shoulder and yawned. I had no idea what to do, I froze. She had fallen asleep on me before, it was no different. And yet, my brain was freaking out.

She didn’t fall asleep this time though. I very slowly laid my head on hers and prayed that she wouldn’t think I’m weird. When nothing happened, probably because I was overthinking the situation, I dipped down a little so it would be easier for her to lay on my shoulder.

Why was everything she did really cute? This is the girl that snorted Cheerwine out of her nose because she laughed too hard, the girl with one of the most expressive faces, the girl who brought me out of my shell and has been there for me through thick and thin.

She was the girl who I always thought of first when I saw something funny or meaningful.