Dear high school best friends,

Those glass doors and linoleum halls have since fallen behind us. It's over, long ended. We moved in, and our first semester of college is soon coming to a close. It's because of this that I wanted to talk again. We've had our last pizza Friday, prom, homecoming football game, pep rally, fall show, choir concert and musical. We've put the final miles on all three of our cars with silly adventures, cried our last tears together, laughed together for the last time, and have added and proofread the closing chapters to books that nobody should ever read. Summer, too, has come and gone. What exactly is left to say?

Well for one, thank you.

Thank you for a few things. For listening to me cry, for drying my tears, for driving me home every day of sophomore year, for being my personal therapists, and for being with me. Thank you for teaching me, for pushing me and for prompting me. Thank you for your advice -- the kind you gave directly and the kind you taught indirectly. Simply put, thank you for being my best friends.

I really, truly hope you know this: I'm proud of you.

I am proud of where you came from, where you are and where you're going. Proud I spent all my free time in the theater watching you perform your solo. Proud I listened to you both learn every line for the last four years. Proud I watched you control your laughter on stage because of my ridiculous faces from my seat in the house. Proud I watched you dance your hearts out on the dance floor, even if one of you looked crazy. Proud you picked a college that will help you build your skills. Proud I learned how to speak up because of our friendship. Proud I taught you both as well.

Just know that after everything you've done, I still love you.

I still do. I always will. Our lives have definitely changed. We've parted ways, but I'll still love you. I'll still say, "I knew her when..." How could I not? Even with everything already said and done, how could I not? I don't know how you couldn't. We gave four and a half years to each other, and ended it so quickly.

Though it began to fall apart long before summer, I needed to say these three things. Thank you for showing me what I deserve from a best friend, and for showing me that I deserve someone who understands me and my personality better. I'm proud of myself for finally speaking out to you about how you made me feel, and about how I was treated. But I still love you, my crazy fun, talented, high school best friends.