Our car steered down the road, passing new buildings I had never seen before. Leaning against the car doors, we traveled in silence, our mothers quietly whispering every once in a while. There wasn’t much to say without getting emotional. Years of friendship had resulted in this, and I wasn’t sure how the next few months of my life were going to go. How am I going to live without Carolina, I thought, she has been my best friend since forever and now I’ve left.
Our tires came to a halt, with the slightest screech. Car doors opened and closed as feet hit the hot August pavement. The automatic doors were opening and closing nearby as people entered and exited the airport. Suitcases were unloaded from the car, the wheels rolling gently onto the sidewalk. Airplanes whooshed above us, ready to take passengers to their new destinations.

The clean aroma of an airport drifted into our noses as we hopped out of my mother’s car. I jumped onto the sidewalk, my little sister following behind me. Carolina, my best friend,  hopped out of the car on the other side and met me on the sidewalk. The smell of worn-out pavement from hundreds and thousands of feet and cars filled the outdoors. Tears silently rolled down everyone’s’ eyes as if they were waterfalls. After five years of friendship, it was finally time to say goodbye. Surrounding us, wives were welcoming their husbands home from their work trips, children running up to greet their fathers and yelling “Welcome home!”  For them, today was a happy day, a day of welcoming and joy. We wanted more than ever to return to the newly built house and not have to say goodbye.

 I met Carolina in the third grade and we were hooked ever since. We used to do everything together, from riding to school to going on vacations to even celebrate holidays together. She was absolutely beautiful in every way,  short and sweet, and I considered her my sister more than I did my best friend. We had grown up together, and leaving was not anything either of us had expected. 

 As I hugged Carolina goodbye, the sweet smell of her favorite perfume brought me to tears, knowing it would be a very long time until I saw her again.  The tears flowed out of my eyes like an evergoing river. “I love you so much and I’m always here if you need anything,” my voice cracked, barely making out the words I had said. I pulled her close for as long as I could, although it only felt like a split second. I then had to let go and watch her leave and go back to Boston. I waved Carolina goodbye as she and her family embarked into the airport, on the way home, to start new adventures of their own. I saw her wipe a tear from her eye and hug her mother as she headed for the airport security. 

I got into the car and started to cry harder and harder. We dove away from the airport, away from my best friend, and my heart sank to the floor. My stomach turned with the thought of starting a new school without my best friend by my side. I cried into my t-shirt until my head hurt and my eyes were drained. I took a deep breath and looked through my phone at the pictures of us, of all the years worth of memories we had spent together. As my mom drove along the road the tears started to fall again, and I couldn’t stop them.

Looking back, I now know moving to South Carolina was the best decision my parents could have made. Starting over was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but it all turned out for the better. Leaving Carolina, the best person I have ever met, changed my life drastically, but I know that no matter how far apart we are, distance could never change the friendship Carolina and I have.