Long Lost Besties 
 
Prologue 
The last bell of the day was Hazel's cue. She sat at her desk, sighing, the relief of the weekend now a hollow feeling in her chest. The thought was a familiar ache, one she had grown used to over the past few days, yet it still landed with a fresh, heavy weight: "What am I going to do without her?" The words were an endless, looping question in her mind. "How am I going to be happy without her?" 
Hazel and Olivia had been inseparable since before they could remember. Their lives were a mirror of each other, living across the street and spending every afternoon together after school. They navigated the hallways of Hollowbrook Academy, a place of shared jokes and whispered secrets. Until one day, the world they had built together began to change. 
     The Bad News 
It was Friday, the perfect night for a sleepover at Hazel's house. As Olivia walked across the familiar street, a knot formed in her stomach. "How am I going to tell her this?" she had asked her mom, who only offered, "You'll know when the time is right." Olivia tried to push the worries away. All she could think about was her best friend and the fun they were going to have. 
Inside, Hazel could hardly contain her excitement. The cheerful chime of the doorbell rang out, and she rushed to the door, her face lighting up as she welcomed her best friend inside. Hazel had planned every activity to make sure the evening was perfect. 
And it was. The night unfolded in a blur of laughter and joy, crammed with messy s'mores, epic pillow fights, and whispering stories long into the night. For Hazel, it felt like one of their very best sleepovers, full of all the fun and comfort their friendship had always brought. It was a perfect final evening, a collection of memories to be preserved. 
Finally, when the house grew quiet and they lay in their sleeping bags in the darkness, Olivia knew the moment had come. She took a deep, shuddering breath and turned over. "Hazel, can I tell you something?" she said, her voice barely a whisper. 
"Yeah?" Hazel murmured, still half-asleep but her face wide with a huge smile. "Sure!" 
The joy in that smile was the very reason Olivia had been dreading this. Hazel's thoughts drifted to what they might do next time, already imagining their future adventures. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, and for a moment, saw every memory flashing: facing down the 1st-grade bully, the exact same 2nd-grade science project, the years of secrets and laughter in 3rd, 4th, and now 5th grade. She took a deep breath, and the words left her lips in a rush. 
"What? Just tell me already!" Hazel urged softly, with a big smile and an impatience in her tone. 
There was a pause, and then the words tumbled out, scared and shaky. "I... I'm moving." 
The Shock Sinks In 
Hazel's mouth dropped to the ground. At first, she was in shock, then she started laughing, "Haha! That is a good joke!" 
"No... seriously, I'm not lying!" 
"Yeah, right and unicorns exist! Haha!" 
"Really." 
When Hazel saw that Olivia's eyes shone with tears, that was when she had to accept the truth. Tears started welling in both of their eyes. 
"Why do you have to leave?" 
"My dad's job. We have to move for him to be able to keep his job." 
Hazel understood. She couldn't force Olivia and her family to stay. Meanwhile, Olivia was having mixed emotions and thinking many thoughts. On one hand her thoughts were saying, "Why did you tell her? You could have waited till the last minute", and on the other hand she was feeling calmer, as if telling her was a good thing. 
"Are you mad at me?" Olivia asked. 
"Of course not! I understand." Hazel replied, "But..." 
Now it was Olivia's turn to ask, "What?" 
"You must promise to text, hang out, and call every week!" 
Olivia was getting worried again. "Umm.. about that, I'm moving to Dallas."  
Hazel stared in shock.  
 
The Long Distance Promise 
Hazel stared at Olivia in shock, the perfectly still air of the quiet bedroom suddenly feeling thin and cold. Her heart, which had been full of the warmth of their sleepover just moments before, now felt like a lead weight. Dallas. The word echoed in her mind, a foreign sound that felt completely wrong. That wasn't just another town over; that was an airplane ride away. A call wasn't the same as running across the street, and a text wasn't the same as an epic pillow fight. The promises she'd just made, so full of easy, fifth-grade confidence, suddenly felt like empty, fragile words. 
"Dallas?" Hazel whispered, her voice cracking. "That's... so far away." 
The tears in Olivia's eyes overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. "I know," she choked out, her own fear and sadness mixing with Hazel's. "It's a really, really long drive."  
The silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating. A million questions raced through Hazel's mind, but they all tangled into a single, painful truth: their shared world was about to be torn apart. The thought of walking the halls of Hollowbrook Academy alone, without Olivia's familiar presence, made her stomach churn. The thought of coming home from school to an empty house across the street felt like an ache that would never heal. All the memories of their best sleepover, of their shared stories, and their secrets, became a  reminder of what was about to be lost. 
"We have to," Hazel said, the promise now feeling more like pleading. "We have to text and call every week. You have to visit all the time. Right?" 
Olivia nodded, but the look in her eyes held a new kind of sadness, one that Hazel hadn't seen before—the fear of a promise that might be impossible to keep. 
   Farewell Party 
Hazel looked at all the packed away boxes. She sighed.  
This was the end of her life here, and the start of her new life all the way in Dallas was yet to come. She felt guilty about the fact that she was kind of excited. She wore, not the frilly dress her mom had picked for her, but an oversized sweatshirt and jeans. She trudged down the stairs to come to an awkward silence with her parents. Her mom stared at her in disbelief, but went back to her cooking. A few moments later, the whole neighborhood had come to say goodbye. There was great home cooked food but to Olivia it tasted bland. That's when she saw Hazel, with a blank, sad stare at her. Olivia approached her and said, "Remember our promise." Hazel nodded trying to avoid her gaze. 
 
   After the move 
The last bell of the day was Hazel's cue. She sat at her desk, sighing, the relief of the weekend now a hollow feeling in her chest. The thought was a familiar ache, one she had grown used to over the past few days, yet it still landed with a fresh, heavy weight: "What am I going to do without her?" The words were an endless, looping question in her mind. "How am I going to be happy without her?" 
Olivia's school day ended. Somehow she had already become a popular kid because she got invited to the popular kids group. As she walked home, all she could think about was her best friend. They walked home from school every day together. She missed all the talks and giggles from before Dallas. 
 
Adulthood 
 
Still keeping in touch Hazel and Olivia moved on to greater things. Both of them ended up in the best of colleges, made new friends, and most importantly, they had fun.  
 
After a few years, they both went to medical school and Olivia became a nurse, and Hazel became a surgeon at the same hospital. When they told each other the good news, they both squealed so loud the whole world could hear them. 
 
"Yes! I'm so glad you got your dream job Hazel!", said Olivia. 
 
"I know! I'm so happy for you too!", replied Hazel. 
 
The next day, it was the start of their jobs at the hospital. Though it was difficult, they powered through all the patients. And at the end their work, both of them went to take a break, ate their food, and caught up with each other, and this wasn't like the other times where they called and talked. As they talked, they made a promise to never, ever leave each other's side again.