When I say it's been years, I mean it. We're young adults now, and it all just started when we were little girls on the playground. Little girls who had no idea what the future held for our friendships throughout the next ten years or so. And now as you leave for college, we can only hope our paths lead us back together. Growing up together has been something I wouldn't trade for the world. Now that it's time for us to go our separate ways, I just want to thank you.

Thank you for the memories. Oh the memories, where do I even start? I could talk about the days we used to head down town for a milkshake on the last day of school, or the endless car rides and late nights. Or what about the bus rides and locker room jams? Watching endless episodes of Grey's Anatomy (you'll always be my person) and of course the endless nights of High School Musical. What am I gonna do without our High School Musical jam sessions? There's really too many memories for me to even begin writing about. However, there's nothing in this world I would trade for any one of these moments. The moments that made our friendships stronger. The moments that pushed us apart and then pulled us together. Now that we're going to be apart, these memories are going to be something we'll have to hold on to.

Thank you for the tears. Oh boy, have we cried and cried and cried in this friendship. We've cried over the most stupidest things, but we've cried together. I'll never forget the long drives at night crying over those stupid boys we had seemed to be stuck on for forever. The music loud to drown out our hideous sobs. The "I'm not okay," snapchats followed by an "I'm coming over." We had each other's backs through it all. Through heartbreak, death, and even just PMS. I mean, what shoulder is better to cry on than your best friend's? And let's not even mention the tears that came with graduation. The mixture of happy and sad tears. The senior slideshow highlighting some of our best high school memories... Although I was happy and proud of you, I still found it hard to be happy you were now leaving me in high school by myself. I still find it hard to be happy with the idea of you being miles away from me my senior year, but I know it will be okay.

Thank you for being stupid with me. Whether it's getting back with a boy who broke our heart for the tenth time, or staying up until 5 am doing lord knows what, you've always been able to remind me I'm not the only stupid, high school girl. Purposely getting our car stuck so those boys we just "couldn't seem to get over" had to come pull us out. Picking me up in another town after a night out because I didn't believe you when you said you were gonna leave me. All the stupid things we do together are definitely going to be missed, but there will be more to come.

I could go on and on with thank you's but unfortunately I don't have that motivation. But I do want to say this: College is going to treat you so well. You're going to meet new people, do new things, find new hobbies, and you're going to grow in ways you never could imagine. You're going to kiss new boys, drive new roads, and probably forget about me. (Just kidding, I hope not.) But I just want you to know that even when there's miles between us, I will always have your back. I will always have my shoulder for you to cry on, and I will just be a phone call away. I hope you don't forget all the memories and time we have spent, and I hope you don't replace me as your best friend. I know we have the kind of friendship where we can go days without seeing each other, and then pick up where we left off, but I hope the miles between us don't stop that.

Here's to new beginnings and even better friendships.

Sincerely, your high school best friend.