• Alkaid and I had met at the age of 5, and we became best friends. However, in the 4th grade, my mom took me out of the public school we went to and put me in a Catholic school, hoping I would get a well-rounded and more challenging education. But the only well-rounded thing I got from that school was a daily basketball After a week of my drastic change, Alkaid stood in front of me as I sat on the couch at home and asked, "What the hell is going on at your new school? Why don't you wanna play anymore?" It took me ten minutes to figure out how to word it, and when I finally told her, her mouth was trembling and she exploded into a fury of unintelligible ranting and cursing of words I've never heard of back then. After an hour, tears were falling from her eyes and she wiped them away as she sat down on the other couch. All I could do was lower my head and blame myself for everything. Then she slumped next to me, wrapped her arms around me, and cried on my shoulder. Since that day, Alkaid's old self either died or was locked away as well because I was her only friend since the day we met. But she was still the only person who could even make me smile.

    I suffered two years of that satanic Catholic school before mom put me into a different Catholic school, but the summer before I went to my new school, Alkaid came over and told me she was moving to New York. She was just as shocked about the news as I was, and she slept with me in bed for the week before she left. Once that day came, though, she was gone that morning with a package where she was. In it was a necklace that said, "I love you."