"Make new friends, but keep the old..."

That song is fitting in so many ways for me right now.

Last night I partook in something that I thought would never happen again. Ever. At around 10 PM last night, the three girls that I was attached to through eighth grade and I went out to a diner together. We hadn't had time with just the four of us really since seventh grade when we added two new people to our little clique, and hadn't all been together at all since the summer before our sophomore year when we went to London with our girl scout troop (Reason #1 why the title fits). That's four years. I went to high school with Collette and Kristen, while Jenna went to public school. J was my best, and Kristen and Collette had each other, save for a small blip freshman year. I was the only one who really talked to everybody, and even that was rarely. So when Kris IM's me out of the blue one day to ask if I'd read a book in a series we were both into, I was a little surprised - but compelled to get together.

You see, these girls were my life from 5th through 8th grade. We had things in common. of course. All ridiculously involved, smart, cute (well, they were...I was in my awkward stage), and such. But God we were so different, too. Collette was the athlete, an amazing soccer player from the outset and the most outgoing of the group. Then there was Kristen, Collette's best friend, the quietest of the group, but with the best taste in just about everything. Jenna was the politician, the go-getter, and the singer. And then there was me - the smart one of the smart ones, the good girl of the good girls, and the actor. And we were always together - our talent show numbers stopped everything. We found out later we sent girls crying to the guidance counselor because they wanted to be part of "The Six" (the four previously mentioned, and then our other two bests Sarah, the feisty one and the one who definitely had to deal with the most shit, and Candace, our little rebel). We had no idea. It's not that we meant to be so exclusive, we were just best friends. And never were we outright mean, maybe just a little too into our own little inside jokes to notice if people were trying to be with us. Besides, you needed to approach us in pairs so as not to offset the balance, of course. But before there were six, there were four. And we were so close - interchangeable for the most part on our little play dates. I remember afternoons at Kris's using yarn in her room to play Entrapment and pretending to avoid tripping alarm systems, picnic's in her back yard with American girls, and dancing to Titanic in her den. I remember sleepovers in Collette's RV...in her garage, her huge closets in her beautiful house, and the fact that she was always the one who swore she would stay up latest but the first to pass out. There was going to the beach with Jen (a tradition that still holds with the two of us), hanging out in her basement, and her bowling birthdays. And there was my house, the pool, the parents always willing to give rides and provide food. We spent all our time together. We took over student council in 8th grade, we had an amazing dance routine for the talent show - and then we had drama.

We were the group that could hangout with any of the guys, which was cool but inevitably caused trouble. J and Let liked the same guy, who was Let;'s boyfriend. Things other than that got competitive for the first time. And by the time we graduated, we were not really as close as we should have been. I remember being devastated. I never did do change. And everything was falling down around me. My best friends didn't talk anymore, but I talked to all of them. I would cry - "why can't we just stay best friends?" - and they couldn't understand why I wouldn't let go. Eventually I did, and have since perfected the art of cutting people off when they hurt me. It's my defense - and I'm damn good at it. So high school happened. Let, Kris, and I had the occasional class together, and we were friendly, but never hung out outside of school. J and I stayed close, but barely ever saw each other, what with both our ridiculous schedules. She didn't talk to the other two. Effectively, our friendship was dissolved.

And yet, something stuck. As we grow up, we are more mature about things. For example, if someone is in a fight with one of our friends, we don't necessarily freak out and stop talking to that person. You acknowledge, the situation, yes, but in most cases, you realize that it is not your fight, and you continue to carry on with that person, and the said friend is okay with that. That's how it with my high school and college friends anyway. But to this day, let anyone say anything about my grade school girls and I am down their throat, screaming "You don't know them! Shut up because you don't know." It doesn't matter that I haven't seen them or talked to them in months or years, I will always defend them, almost irrationally. And last night I came to find out I wasn't alone.

We met at the diner, showing up in two cars, though it wasn't planned that each set of bests would show up together, it's just how things happened. I laughed as they walked up, because we were each dressed differently in ways that just projected our personalities. Collette was in a sport tank top, Kris was model-esque with out even trying, Jen was all business in a dressy top and skirt, having come from a town meeting, and I was in chucks, and cargo khakis with a black top, looking exceptionally artsy for some reason, having just come from play practice. From that second on, I knew it was going to be fine, because somethings never change. We sat down and began with catching each other up on college stories. They were proud of Jen for her...maturation?...at school, and not disappointed, but sighed at my lack of progress - yet pleased with my consistency. Story of my life. We talked til 11 when the one diner in Jersey that closes was closing, then went back to J's where we talked until 2:30 in the morning about past present and future. It was beautiful. It was like we had never skipped a beat. I knew that's how it always was between Jenna and I, but it didn't occur to me that his was how it would be with all of us, too. It was so relaxed. Amazing to see how some of our experiences paralleled each other. Finally, we headed home, and with a fitting end to the night Let couldn't find her keys for awhile. So wonderfully typical. We swore we would do this again very soon.

And I hope to God we do. I've missed my forever friends.