We both knew this day would come. We’d say our goodbyes and even though we are only a phone call away, we knew our friendship would alter. It’s my last year being a kid and her first year being a grown up. We’re the same age yet in two completely different places of our lives.

Our last time together before she left felt like any other time we were hanging out. It felt as if we were getting coffee as we would any other day. Nothing but adrenaline was in my veins. But something was different because about an hour later, she drove 187 miles away. Away from the only city she has ever called home, away from her first job, away from her “normal” and away from me. 

Slowly my emotions flooded my eyes as I realized the one person I told everything to was no longer five minutes away from me. I didn’t know who I would be able to call in case I needed a ride from point A to point B. When someone asks me to “bring a friend” I won’t be able to bring the person who has the same extroverted level of fun as I do. She loves the idea of meeting new people and going to places we didn’t even know existed but now we have to do that separately.

The first day of my senior year rolled in, and I was hit by the fact that she and I went to two completely different Lincolns. As I’m at the top of LHS with people I’ve known for years, she’s walking from building to building on the grounds of UNL with her roommates that will soon become her closest friends.

Being in separate grades finally caught up to us as we no longer travel the same path of growing up. She’s going to 8 a.m. lectures and doing her own dishes while I’m using a school-provided Chromebook at a desk I’ve known since I was young. She pays for classes to become someone amazing, creating an image for her adulthood self, as I’m taking required classes in hopes of being where she is today. 

We’re doing life separately right now. Reality attacked me faster than it was supposed to. It’s almost my turn to start making choices for myself, to meet brand new people who come from completely different states and lifestyles. It’s almost my turn to be in the same place she is. I’ll meet up with her later. She just got a head start.