I will always remember the friend that I made when I was 10 years old. I met her at our elementary school on the playground one day. I was in fourth grade and she was in fifth, at the time. We met because I was already friends with a girl that she was playing with. I walked up to Brittany, the friend I knew, and then introduced myself to the tan, black haired girl stood next to her. Her hair was as dark as the middle of the ocean at midnight.

“Hi, my name is Kelsey,” I said to her.

She replied, “Hi, I’m Acaicia.”

Since we were young and nothing mattered at that age, we instantly liked each other and became friends. We played every day on the playground since then. I will always remember Acaicia as the prettiest girl I have ever seen. She had a large white smile that showed both rows of perfectly straight teeth, her tan skin that came from her father’s side of the family, and her adorable outfits that were different every day.

Then, one night on a walk with my family, we were two streets down on St. James. We were about to pass a house with a group of kids out in the middle of the street. As we approached, a girl with long black hair stood facing towards me in a bright orange Crater softball shirt. As I passed by her face looked extremely familiar.

Then Acaicia yelled loudly, “Kelsey!”

We met each other in the middle and gave each other a large hug. While our parents introduced each other, I asked Acaicia if she lived in the green house she was standing in front of.

“Yes,” she replied.

It turns out, Acaicia lived two streets down from my house, for two years, and we had never met. Since we found out where each other lived, we spent almost every day together. We got ready and car pooled to school every day together. We shared a total of 10 birthdays together between the two of us in five years. I knew Acaicia was my best friend when we shared every detail of our lives together. She is the only person that I can remember that was always there for me. We went through the typical school drama, boy drama and family drama. We always turned to each other for anything and everything. Then, we got the news that changed our friendship forever, or we thought.
Acaicia was told by her parents one month before her eighth grade year was over that she was moving to Frankfurt, Germany. Her mom got a four year job offer with the airport. The family’s plan was to return after her senior year. We were absolutely devastated. We spent the night with each other almost every night for the next month until she left. As I sat on her tall bed with my feet dangling off, I helped her pack up all of her clothes and jewelry. She tossed shirt after shirt at me that landed on my long brown hair. I grabbed them off my head and folded them nicely. She donated some of her things to me to remember her by that I still have and wear today.

I sent her off at the airport, crying. Large tears streamed down my face as we gave each other the longest hug I can ever remember having. I sat outside and waited to watch her plane take off half way around the world. As it rose into the sky, my eyes followed it. Then, it disappeared in the dark gray clouds. I was heart-broken. Being a 13 year old girl, a best friend was the closest thing I had ever known. But, my mood changed when she finally got settled in her new home and Skyped me. She told me all about her new house, new school and new friends. Even though it hurt to know she liked Germany more then she liked Central Point, she told me something that I remembered that put the biggest smile on my face.

She asked with a large smile, “Guess what?”

I asked her, with a curious look on my face, “What?”

She said, “I’m coming home for Christmas!”

The next time I saw Aciaica was at Christmas time. We exchanged gifts and spent a few nights in a row together before she left again. She returned, again, in the summer before I went to high school. We still call each other up, when we can, to talk about what’s going on in our lives. I love that I didn’t lose my best friend. It just requires a little more effort to stay as close as we were, but it’s worth it.