Like all great things, our friendship didn’t just happen in a sense. I was friends with Paula before I was friends with the third musketeer, Faith. What happened was Paula and I became friends gradually and then all at once. It was in our sixth grade home room that I went up to the quiet blonde sitting across the room and said “Hi I’m Jasmine, you’re Paula right?” She said yes very shyly and I then proceeded to tell her that she was going to be my homeroom buddy. Just like that I would sit and talk with her in homeroom, I doing most of the talking, while we waited for roll call and after school when we waited for the bus. In seventh grade for lunch we sat at different tables but in the same section so I would sometimes go over to talk to her. It was seventh grade when I became friends with Faith because of lunch. However, she intimidated me because she was SO different. She was loud, affectionate, and didn’t care what people thought.

When we entered high school, we got a lot closer and became known as the three musketeers by our parents as we went through our high school careers. Sadly Paula and I weren’t in the same homeroom through high school. Lunch was one of the best parts of the day because it was one of the few times the three of us saw each other. When it was hot out we would go out to the patio after we finished eating and we would joke, laugh, and poke fun at each other. In sophomore year we started sleeping over each other’s houses. The three of us used to sleep over at Faith’s house, sometimes secretly where her dad didn’t know. She would tell her dad that only one of us was sleeping over and then the other would hide in her room usually under blankets. When asked why she would always say how am I supposed to pick between my two best friends.

In our junior year, Paula and I were in the same math class and it was the best. Faith would come into my physics class and it would make it so much better because no one really talked to me in that class. It would be funny because she would tell her study teacher she was going to the bathroom and then she wouldn’t come back until five minutes before the bell rang. That year Paula and I went to all the dances but Faith didn’t because she thought dances and getting involved was stupid. However, she changed her mind senior year.

Our senior year was so much fun. We met a new friend that we accepted into our friend group named Allison that was home-schooled for the other eleven years of her schooling. We went to all the football games because we joined the Pep Squad. Every Friday night we would spend at the field with painted faces cheering on the team. That year I got my first job so I could go to senior week with my girls and we could tear it up at Ocean City, Maryland. We went to all the dances and even Faith came. But the biggest highlight was walking on the field and getting my diploma. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other girls. Senior week was the first time I went on vacation without my parents, and I had a blast with my best friends. We got sunburn, ate cereal with forks, and went to an under 21 club with a foam machine.

Our friendship continued through into college where Paula and I attended full time. We didn’t see Faith and Allison a lot, just mainly on breaks from school. When we did hang out it was just like old times. This past summer was even more tough than before because we all worked so much and the last time we hung out was a last minute hang out session at midnight. Sadly we didn’t take a selfie that night. Looking back, I would give nothing but to have taken a selfie that night.

You see, a couple of weeks into October, the three musketeers lost one of their own. Faith died in a motorcycle accident, leaving not just us but everyone that loved her devastated. Luckily we had each other to help ease the pain of losing our soul sister. When I saw Paula after I came home because I was in too much of a shock to do schoolwork, I hugged her so tight. Now when we Skype or Snapchat, we check on each other and it would be harder if we didn’t have each other. I love you girls so much.