Summer isn't my favourite season. It's hot, it's humid, and it's buggy. But it is good for one thing.

"Pool party!" Bernie calls out, doing a cannonball into the pool. I shriek as the cold water splashes me.

"You are SO dead!" I laugh, jumping into the pool with him.

This isn't our pool though. I wish it was. No, we're at our family friend's house. Iris and Preston, the family friends, are in the pool with us too.

Iris giggles and hits me playfully with her pool noodle while her twin brother adjusts the goggles on his forehead.

Preston is the only guy friend I have. But I'm not even sure if it counts, since he's a family friend and all.

He's also a year younger than me, which he never fails to rub in. Normal people brag that they're older. Preston is not normal. Whenever I point out that being older means I'm more mature and have more wisdom, he always says the exact same thing: "You're one year closer to death."

To that, I always reply with a bop to his head, which usually shuts him up.

After swimming for about two hours, I pull myself out of the water and dry off with a towel. (A dull green one. It's like my mother doesn't know me at all.)

Preston follows me as I venture to the kitchen for a quick snack. Iris and Bernie stay in the pool, or "tanning" in Iris's case.

"Hey," He greets, sliding into a seated position on the counter. "What's up? You just seem kind of sad, so I thought I'd ask."

"Do I?" I shrug as I take a bite of an apple. "Well, you're only imagining it."

"Right." Preston gives me a look. "Come on, Nicole. I've known you since we were babies! I can tell when something is wrong."

I sigh. Preston knows I'll spill eventually. I tend to have a big mouth when people are nice to me. It's one of my weaknesses.

"Fine." I grunt, sitting next to him. "There's just been so much drama this year, and I hate it."

"What kind of drama?" He inquires.

"Friend drama." I frown. "You remember Talia?

"Yeah. She was the really sarcastic one, right?"

I laugh at Preston's description, then continue with my explanation.

"That's the one." I wring out my hair absentmindedly. "Well, she was put into a different class this year from me and my other friends. It was fine at first, but then TIEGAN came along and it all fell apart."

"Tiegan? The girl with bushy eyebrows?"

"You know, you don't give very flattering descriptions of my friends." I roll my eyes. "But yes, that's her. Anyways, Tiegan and Talia hated each other. And eventually, ALL my friends turned on Talia and-" I take a deep breath. "I went along with it."

"Why would you do that?" Preston gasps.

"Because!" I hurry to explain myself. "They pressured me! They made me think Talia was a terrible person."

"I used to think you were smart." Preston remarks.

"I still am!" I protest. "I'm just not good with confrontations."

"Right." Preston rolls his eyes. "You really have to get over that. Doesn't your best friend matter more to you than some silly fear?"

"Former best friend." I correct him miserably.

"You better fix that attitude before you lose yet another friend." Preston narrows his eyes. "Namely, me."

"And YOU better be a bit nicer to me and lose the arrogance before I push you into the pool, clothes and all."

"I'm soooo scared." He smirks.

"As you should be." I retort.

We're silent for a few moments. I'm quiet because I'm reflecting on the year's drama. Who knows what's going in his mind though.

"Well, enough about me." I finally sigh. "How was the sixth grade?"

"It was great!" Preston beams. "I even made a new friend, and she's really fun."

"She?" I waggle my eyebrows. "Is it just me or is Preston in love?"

"It's just you." He huffs. Then he blushes. "Well, maybe."

"Ooooooh!"

"Oh, shut up." Preston looks away in embarrassment. "Besides, you changed the subject. Were we not supposed to be talking about YOUR drama, not mine?"

"Yeah, I was hoping you would forget." I grin. "But honestly, there is nothing I can do to fix my situation."

"Really?" Preston looks surprised. "I would think the solution is obvious."

"Yeah?" I lean forwards. "What is it?"

"You apologize."

I face palm. "You think I haven't already done that?"

He tilts his head to the side, wise beyond his years.

"You have to mean it with all your heart."

***

I check the time nervously. 7:24 in the afternoon. There's not much time left in the day.

I groan inwardly. I cannot believe I let myself be pushed around like this by Preston, especially after that whole speech about me "not being scared of confrontations" and whatnot. Such a hypocrite.

I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet. The urge to suck on my hair is insane, so I just give in and do it. It's not like my hair is that beautiful at the moment anyways, since it's all frizzy from the pool.

I have more important things on my mind anyway.

A child squeals loudly, swinging from the playground. Babies cry as the parents try to soothe them. A dog barks every time the wind blows. And it's still not enough to distract me from the thoughts consuming me.

I think about how I called Ava before I came here.

"Ava," I had hissed urgently into my phone. "I'm going to meet Talia at the park."

"What? Why?!" Ava's anger was evident.

"So I can apologize to her." I said simply.

"Don't you dare-"

"I don't care what you say about it, I'm going!" I snapped. "Stop trying to control my life! You're not my mother!"

"I'd be a very good mother." Ava interjected.

"I'm sure you would." I grunted. "Listen up. We are not best friends. We never were. I was just another one of your victims. But I am DONE. I am done letting you get away with whatever you want. I am done letting you just push me around like I'm nothing. I'm done with you."

"You're crazy."

"Not any more crazy than you are."

And then I had hung up.

I had leaned against the counter and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. So that was that. A five year friendship ended with a phone call.

Strangely, I don't feel upset about it. I thought I would be. Especially since this is, like, the third friendship of mine that has ended this year.

Preston hadn't even advised me to do that. It had been my own decision, on my own accord.

I forgot what it felt like to do that.

But the phone call with Ava isn't the thing that's making me nervous. Because right after I called Ava, I had dialed Talia's number as well.

She didn't pick up, and I only expected as much. But I left a voicemail.

"Hey Talia, it's Nicole." I had greeted nervously. "But, uh, you have caller ID, so you probably knew that already..."

Get to the point, girl! I thought to myself, which is something I do often.

"Anyways," I cleared my throat noisily. "Do you want to maybe meet at the park? The one near your house? I know you don't want anything to do with me, but please just give me a chance. I definitely don't deserve it, but let me try."

So much drama in a few minutes! I had to throw myself onto the couch to stop my hyperventilating. (I don't know how that helps, but it worked for me.)

And then I see her.

She's wearing a purple tie-dye shirt that's tied at the front, with black leggings. I stare at her outfit enviously. How does Talia always manage to look so put together? I'm wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants. Those are my weekend clothes, because I wasn't exactly expecting to be doing that much today.

Talia spots me too, and stops a few feet away from me.

"Hey." She says awkwardly.

I gulp nervously.

"Talia, these have been some of the worst months of my life." I begin. "And that's INCLUDING those months where me and Bernie were in a prank war."

"Wow." Talia gapes, impressed. "Then it must have been really bad."

"It was." I confirm. "It still is. Because I miss you so much it makes my heart hurt."

Talia opens her mouth to say something, probably to lecture me that I can't possibly have injured my heart from missing her.

"It's a saying, Talia. Sheesh."

Ok, this is not going how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to say a few nice words, do a little crying, then BAM, forgiveness earned. At least that's how Preston described it would be like.

But since when is that guy trustworthy?

Although he may not be very trustworthy, or responsible, or smart, (I could go on and on), he is good in social situations. So I channel my inner Preston as a strategy instead.

"You've got a friend in me." I sing. "You got troubles, and I got 'em too. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. We stick together and we see it through."

"Is that a song?" Talia asks.

"Um, DUH!" I practically scream. "You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman! Haven't you ever watched Toy Story?"

"No." She giggles. "Why, is it required by law or something?"

"YES!" I cry. "You are human, right?"

She nods.

"And you live in North America?"

Looking skeptical, she nods once again.

"And is English your native language?"

"No, I speak Latin." Talia grumbles. "Of course English is my native language!"

"Then you have to watch Toy Story!" I explain. "It's one of my favourite movies ever."

"EVERY movie is your favourite movie ever."

"Not true." I harrumph. "I didn't like that documentary about blobfish we watched in grade five."

"I know you secretly were enjoying it! You snorted every time you saw a picture of it!"

"That's because it's so ugly, I have to laugh!"

"Sure." Talia chuckles, then looks down at the ground. "You're right. I've missed you too."

"Missed the friendly banter, or the actual friendship?"

"Both." She smiles shyly at me. "Did you really mean it when you said this has been one of the worst years of your life?"

"Of course!" I cry indignantly. "Did you SEE how many times I tried apologizing to you? If that doesn't show desperation with a touch of self loathing, I don't know what does."

"Sorry." Talia fidgets with her hands. "It wasn't all your fault. I think I just enjoyed watching you squirm."

"Hey!" I cross my arms. "Besides, it WAS all my fault. There were so many bad things I did! I let Tiegan into our friend group, I left you out of conversations, I didn't try to comfort you after the whole Jared fiasco and your fight with Ava, I-"

"Ok, ok." She interrupts. "I get it. You've done a lot of bad things. But it's not as if I've been the perfect angel either."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, I might have told Annalise, Rheana and a few other girls that you like Brennon..."

"WHAT?!" I explode, then remember this is supposed to be my apology to her. "I mean, how thoughtless of you, but I shall let it slide."

"You don't have to be nice about it." Talia sighs. "You deserve an apology too."

"Ok then." I say, then continue my rant.

Once I've used up all the colorful words I know, Talia and I fall into an amicable silence.

"Basically, we're both to blame?" Talia finally asks hopefully.

"Yeah." A smile tugs at the corner of my lips. "We both suck at this friendship thing."

"Unfortunately." She agrees.

"But we'll get better." I assure her.

"We'll take lessons, read books, do experiments." Talia teases.

"I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as books for getting better at friendship." I point out playfully.

"Then we'll write our own books." Talia straightens up confidently.

I sigh happily. "Does this mean we're friends again?"

"I think you know the answer."

"Um...I really don't. I'm a terrible detective."

"Then I'll state the clues." She starts listing on her fingers. "Clue number one, I'm still here, talking with you. Clue number two, I'm smiling at you. And clue number three, I'm happier than I've been in a while."

"Well, that doesn't really help." I wrinkle my nose. "You could be smiling and talking because you're trying to lull me into a sense of contentment, but then you'll just leave suddenly to play with my emotions. And you could just be happy because you're about to get revenge on me." I back away fearfully. "I'm correct, aren't I?"

"God, you really are a terrible detective." Talia remarks, smirking. "It means YES, Nicole, we are friends again."

"Phew." I wipe my brow in relief. "I kind of believed my theory for a second."

Talia bumped into my shoulder playfully. "Was there anything important I missed while I was gone?"

"Well, as you know, Lillian left." I recall.

"Yeah, I wasn't too broken up about that, if I'm being honest."

"And I talked once to Brennon." I smile at the thought.

"Good for you." She giggles. "Something kind of important happened to me too."

"Oh yeah?" I ask, my curiosity piqued. "What is it?"

"I had my first kiss." Her voice is barely a whisper as she says it.

"WHAAAT?!" I scream, making the children at the park glare at me. I lower my voice just a tiny bit. "Who? When? Where?"

Talia tries to answer all my questions. "It was with Owen, after Gemma's party as we walked home together."

"No way!" I squeal. "How was it?"

"It was sweet. He asked me if he could and everything."

"Awww." I sigh happily. "Do you think you might end up with him?"

"I'm not thinking that far." She swats my arm. "But maybe."

We both turn to see the sun is starting to set. It bathes the sky in vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow and pink.

"Woah," I breathe, staring up. "This is beautiful."

"It really is." Talia replies.

I'm an artist, so my eyes are drawn to it like a moth is drawn to a flame. Look at those colours! Look how well they mix together! What a perfect way to end a perfect day.

I look down at my hand to see that Talia has intertwined her fingers with mine and is staring up at me with a hopeful expression.

"I don't want to be friends." She says suddenly.

My jaw slides open from shock.

"I want to be best friends." Her grip on my hand tightens with anticipation.

"Best friends." I smile. "Forever."