The summer before I started high school, I had the worst friendship fight that I had ever experienced. I lost almost all of my friends, and since everyone was in the same friend group, if one person was excluding me, it meant they were included to exclude me. I had one friend left, and she stuck by me through everything. For those three months of summer, she was the only person I talked to, texted, hung-out with, spent the night with, etc. We became best friends, since she was also excluded from this friend group, and it became me and her against the world.

The two of us have been best friends for almost four years, and believe me, we've been through everything together. From break-ups, failing test grades, family fights, friend drama and everything in between, she was my person. I always said that even though I haven't quite met my soulmate, although I'm fairly certain she's met hers, she was my "friend-mate." She's the person I was destined to become best friends with, to help me get through all of the crazy experiences that make up high school.

In the middle of freshman year, I met my other best friend. All three of us did the same sport, and eventually we ate at the same lunch table because we were more or less evicted from our previous lunch spot due to a homecoming fiasco. We got along great, and by the end of freshman year I realized I had made two of my best friends. These two girls are the ones I look to for guidance, the ones I care about more than anything. We have gone through so much together, and high school's only half over.

Summer has become the time for me where I kind of drift away from everything. Especially this summer I have found myself doing a lot of soul searching, trying to find what makes me happy besides a boy. High school culture constantly convinces you that if you aren't in a steady relationship by the end of sophomore year, you're doomed. I have definitely realized that, as much as I would like a relationship, it's not what I need to get me through as long as I have my kick-ass friends alongside me.

I was constantly the toss-around friend in elementary and middle school, being the one who people held close when it was convenient to them and then leaving behind once another, better, cooler friend came along and stole the spotlight. But with these two, I never had to worry about that, because I knew they were the ones I would keep by my side through anything. We've all changed and grown up, there's no doubt about that. I look back on how we've all changed and grown, made mistakes and pushed through disappointments. Even though sometimes we fall apart, we always end up falling back together.

No matter what life throws your way, you can always count on your best friends to be there. I've found my forever "friend-mates," and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Cheers to amazing friends and new beginnings, no matter what the new beginning is for you!