"That makes the last of them." April sighs as she wipes her hands on her light denim jeans.
I give a sympathetic smile to my best friend. I know she doesn't want to go to Boston anymore than I want her to, but I'm at least trying to be supportive in order to calm her aching nerves. I can tell by the way she keeps looking back at her now vacant house and running her shaking fingers through her light brown hair, she's nervous as hell.
And, to be perfectly honest, so am I.
Going into sophomore year without April? Kill me now.
"Lesley? April? Did you guys get the rest of the boxes?" Sofia, April's mother, appears from the side of the large moving truck.
April nods at her mother before looking lazily at her red converse.
"Aw, Sofia! I can't believe you guys are leaving!" My mother says as she pulls Sofia in for a hug.
Me and April stare at our parents, neither making a move to say goodbye. Maybe, just maybe, if we never actually say the words aloud, they won't ever happen. But who are we kidding? It's the inevitable. She's going to Boston one way or another and I'm stuck 11 hours away in North Carolina.
I move my eyes from our grieving parents to April. The one person who's had my back since I could barely walk. The one person who I tell everything to. The one person I need the most, that just has to be leaving.
Her bottom lip starts to quiver and I run up the trucks ramp, pulling her in for the world's biggest hug. Her fragile arms wrap around my shoulders and her body shakes with whimpers.
I don't try to comfort her with words telling her how we can still call all the time, because she already knows that. We spent hours on end through out the week developing a plan down to the exact hour I call her each day. Right now, all I can do is hug my best friend, and count down the months until I finally see her again.
She pulls away and wipes her eyes.
" Six o'clock weekdays, 9 o'clock weekends. Don't forget Les." She try's to say calmly but her voice betrays her and cracks at the end.
I repeat our plan to her as we walk to her mothers black SUV.
My mother comes to stand next to me as Sofia and April climb into the car. April rolls down the windows and practically falls out as she reaches to give me one last hug.
If I was a person who cried, I would be right now. But I don't. I haven't cried in three years and I don't plan on crying any time soon. But I can't ignore the lump I feel deep in my throat as I pull away from April's embrace. I quickly swallow the feeling away and stand next to my mom.
April starts to roll up the window before a certain accented voice stops her.
"Wait April! Don't leave yet! Wait!" Chester yells as he runs across the street and next to the window.
April rolls her eyes with a smile and keeps the window down.
"You forgot your bracelet." Chester bellows frantically.
"Seriously Chester? All that for a bracelet?" I smugly laugh.
"Hey, nobody is going to abandon the bracelets." Chester declares. He grabs my arm and holds it next to his to prove a point that both Chester and I have the same brown beaded bracelet on.
I laugh and pull my arm away as April snatches the bracelet and puts it on her wrist.
"And I wanted to say bye of course." He reaches one arm through the car to give her a small hug.
