Talia's highlights have started to go away. But it looks even better now, because the colors of her hair look more mixed.

Lillian and Ava are arguing again, and Tiegan's not helping by cheering for them to fight. I tune them out, observing the flowers that are just beginning to grow back.

I sigh happily and skip over to the plants. Spring is my favorite season of the year. It's bright, it's cheery, and it's beautiful, the beginning of beginnings. What's not to love?

I lean down and pluck a fully grown daffodil from the grass. I tuck it gently behind my ear, inhaling the scent as I do so.

But suddenly, the flower is yanked away from me. Gasping, I spin around.

Talia stands there, a twisted smile on her face. Annalise and Rheana stand behind her, wearing identical smirks. Talia gazes at the flower, and there's so much rage in her eyes that I'm scared the flower might catch on fire.

Her eyes snap up to meet mine.

"Do you know what this flower represents?" Talia asks calmly, pinching the stem between her thumb and forefinger.

"N-no." I reply, my voice shaky.

"Stupid, as usual." She remarks, then turns her attention back to the flower. "It represents our friendship, or what's left of it, at least."

"What are you doing?" I ask weakly.

Talia ignores me. "This petal represents all the good times we've had together. Oh, they were fun...Until the memories were marred by newer ones."

She jerks the petal off the stem and it glides softly to the ground.

"Stop." I beg her. "Please Talia, just don't."

"This petal represents the trust I had in you." Talia declares. "I trusted you for everything. My opinions, my beliefs, my deepest, darkest secrets. And yet, you betrayed my trust."

She violently twists the next petal off.

She yanks petal after petal off the poor flower, listing the flaws of our broken friendship as she does so.

Finally, only one remains. Talia looks at this one different, as if it is much more precious than the others.

"This one," Her voice cracks a bit. "Is for how we forgive each other, no matter what."

I gaze up at her hopefully. Is this her way of accepting my apology?

But then she rips apart that petal, piece by piece.

And then I hear a beep.

I snap up into a sitting position and look around myself wildly. I'm in my home, I'm in my room, I'm in my bed. Talia isn't here. It was all a dream. I sigh in relief, then lean over and turn off my alarm.

But the ringing still persists. I realize that my alarm wasn't the one that was ringing. It was my phone, and it's Lillian calling me.

I groan and fall back onto my bed. Why is she calling me at this ungodly hour? Maybe if I ignore it she'll give up.

Eventually, it stops ringing. I smile, satisfied.

And then it starts ringing again.

I give up and reach over to pick it up off my nightstand.

"Whatsa matter?" I slur into my phone, still half asleep.

"I need you to come to my house." Lillian says. "Right now."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Just hurry up. Tiegan and Ava are already on their way."

And then she hangs up.

I groan once again. This has to be the third time this month that Lillian has called me, only to leave abruptly. And then whenever I come to her house to ask what it was about, she stutters out some random excuse.

The first time she started doing this was back in February, that time I was at Tiegan's house for her birthday.

And now it's been three months and the calls haven't stopped.

But just in case this will be the time Lillian finally spits it out, I dress and brush my teeth anyway.

When I knock on Lillian's door, Ava answers it.

"What did you do?" She snorts, looking me up and down. "Roll out of bed and race down over here?"

I look down at my clothes. I'm wearing baggy jeans that are two inches too short, with fat yellow sunflowers at the hems. The shirt I'm wearing is the one I wore yesterday, so it has a stain on the front. I run my fingers through my hair and realize that I forgot to comb it.

"I was in a rush." I scowl.

"I wasn't saying you looked any different than you usually do."

Tiegan walks over to us.

"I can feel a fight brewing." She wiggles her eyebrows. "Where's the popcorn?"

"Shut up." Ava nudges Tiegan's shoulder.

"Come on everyone." Lillian calls weakly from the kitchen.

"Wow, what happened to her?" I remark as I head inside. "She sounds so depressed."

"She's been like that the whole time I was here." Ava wrinkles her nose. "It was very annoying."

I hurry into the kitchen. I may look really bad this morning, but if possible, Lillian may look worse.

Her hair is obviously still in a braid. But hair is sticking out from the braid in all directions. There are huge bags under her eyes and it looks like she was crying.

"I know I have kind of been putting this off for the past few months, but-" Lillian sighs. "I have to tell you."

Silence settles in the room as we wait for Lillian to make her big announcement.

"I'm moving."

...

"WHAT?!" Three voices gasp at once.

"When?"

"Why?"

"Where?"

Lillian takes a deep breath. "We're moving in exactly a week because we can't afford to rent this house anymore. The new place is an apartment about seven hours away from here."

We all talk at once for the second time.

"Oh my god!"

"Are you serious?"

"Maybe you should run away."

The last comment is made by Ava. I turn to glare at her. I open my mouth to say something, but Tiegan beats me to it.

"Ava, for once in your life, have some empathy!" Tiegan snaps. "Lillian is obviously upset, and you shouldn't be making jokes about it!"

"It wasn't a joke." Ava says plainly. "I was being serious."

"That's even worse!" Tiegan explodes. "You're such an idiot. What type of friend would give "advice" like that to another friend?"

"Like you should be saying ANYTHING about being a good friend!" Ava's chest heaves with anger. "You are the stereotypical toxic friend! You're cruel, you mock us, you talk behind our backs and don't even try to hide it! So don't you DARE talk to me about being a good friend!"

"Yeah, except you know all those things you just said? They define the type of friend you are."

"You're both terrible friends!" Lillian finally interrupts. "I'm MOVING and all you can do is argue!"

They both stop talking and look shamefully down at the floor.

"Sorry." Tiegan mumbles.

"What she said." Ava mutters.

"Whatever." I sigh and turn back to Lillian. "So, you're moving in a WEEK?"

"Yeah." Lillian nods, and it looks like she's trying really hard not to break into tears.

"Well.." I begin, uncertain how to deal with this situation. "Maybe we can help you pack up?"

"That would be really great." Lillian sniffs gratefully.

***

A few minutes later, we're up in Lillian's room. I run my hands over the pale pink walls. I never came to Lillian's house that often, but it still feels somewhat painful to think I'll never see this room again.

I'll never again see that huge stuffed bunny that she won at that carnival during the summer. I'll never again see those fake flowers that Lillian and Melody loved to keep on their desk. I'll never again see the mirror with a small crack in the corner from the time we did that dance routine in her room.

I stop myself before I get upset about the one I'll actually be losing.

Tiegan stares around the room, and I realize that this is her first time in Lillian's room. I expect her to mock Lillian for her childish room, but instead, Tiegan turns to Lillian with a sad smile on her face.

"What should we pack first?" She asks.

"Well, we can start with my closet."

"Sure."

Who knew a closet could trigger so many emotions? Even Tiegan, who doesn't even know the memories, gets emotional as well.

It gets especially horrible when we discover an unfinished friendship time capsule inside the closet.

And yet, nobody cries throughout the whole thing. Not one tear is shed. No salty water runs down our cheeks.

We don't really talk much either. I don't say anything, because I'm scared that if I say just one word, I'll have to sob out the rest.

When we finish up, our goodbyes are clipped and short, as professional as if we were strangers.

We are not strangers. This can't be goodbye forever.

"Wait!" I cry out hoarsely just as Lillian starts closing the door. "We-We'll see each other again. Right before you leave. On Friday, okay?"

"Okay."

***

The week passes much faster than I want it to.

At least I get to spend as much time as possible with Lillian. On Saturday, we went biking together. On Sunday, we video called. On Monday, we saw each other at school. On Tuesday, school and at her house. Wednesday, school and I helped her pack more. Thursday, the class threw her a farewell party.

And now it's Friday.

Even Bernie can sense that today is not a good day for his pranks. He doesn't even squirt me with his water bottle.

I'm just thankful my parents are letting me miss the first period of school to say goodbye to Lillian. I was shocked when my dad relented, because he's always saying that "education should be your top priority after family."

But when I wake up, I start to wish that I had just said my final goodbye yesterday. It's just too difficult to think that you'll never see someone who you thought you'd be with for at least the next five years.

I've actually never had a best friend move away before. Sure, I've had FRIENDS move away, but they weren't one of my best friends.

The feeling is so much worse than I ever would have thought. I can't even remember why I ever thought Lillian was annoying. All I can remember now are the good memories.

Like that time where we did that fake "burn" match. We were laughing so hard that day that I never thought we'd be able to breathe properly again.

Or that time we were playing Truth or Dare, and Lillian had to say actual WORDS to another boy. She was so proud of herself for almost being able to do it.

And that time we did karaoke at my house for my birthday party. Lillian chose a song with swearing in it and she didn't even realize that they were curse words until we told her. I wish I had a video of her reaction.

I think of these things as I choke down some soggy cereal.

As I exit the door, my dad stops me and hands over a "Cadbury Dream" chocolate bar, Lillian's favorite sweet.

"How did you get one of these?" I breathe. "They barely even exist anymore!" Lillian only ever had one because her grandmother knew a person who lives in Australia, where it's still sold.

"Don't ask." My dad said sadly. "Just give it to her and say that it's from all of us."

Each step towards Lillian's former house feels as if bricks are attached to my feet. Each breath feels shallow.

But I persist.

I'm the latest one there, once again. Tiegan and Ava already wait there, talking in hushed tones to Lillian.

"Hey." I greet shortly.

They nod in response.

"Lillian!" Her mom calls. "We're leaving now!"

"NO!" I cry out. "I never got to say goodbye!"

I run to Lillian and throw my arms around her skinny frame.

"I'm going to miss you so, so much." I whisper to her, the tears flowing freely now. I hand her the chocolate bar. "I know I've only known you for two years, but it feels like a lifetime."

"I know." Lillian replies, her tears soaking my hair. "Because I feel the same way. Nicole, you are seriously one of the best people I've ever met."

"You too." I sob, because that's all I can manage to say.

Ava and Tiegan take their turns next as Lillian and I break away.

Tiegan goes first and whispers something in Lillian's ear, which makes her giggle sadly. Then she gives her the tightest hug I've ever seen, and steps away.

Ava goes next, and it seems that she has no words to say. She steps tentatively towards Lillian, and holds out her arms hopefully.

Lillian doesn't hesitate for a second. She crashes into Ava and they bawl into each other's shoulders.

And once those two are done, we all realize that there's one more person we have to say goodbye to.

Melody slams open the car door and yells out for the whole neighborhood to hear: "Don't forget about me!"

So we all give her hugs as well.

By then, Lillian's parents are starting to get very impatient. Her mom keeps tapping her foot against the ground and her dad checks his watch repeatedly.

Finally, her mom decides she's had enough and stomps over to us.

"Yes, yes, this is all very sad." She huffs. "But we need to get there before the movers do! You've all said your goodbyes, so let's get moving!"

"Fine." Lillian sighs and turns back to face us. "Well....goodbye."

"Goodbye." We chorus back.

"We'll call you!" I yell out as the car door closes behind Lillian.

As the door closes on one of the best friendships I've ever had.