the way back

prologue

"Can you guys believe it? In less than 24 hours we're gonna be high schoolers!" Tally said. She and her friends were sitting in a cove at the beach. They were the only people who seemed to know it existed.

"Yeah, yeah. It's really not that big of a deal." Kara answered. But, it was a big deal. Their lives were about to start changing, and Kara was worried they'd drift apart.

"Oh, whatever Kara. You know you're excited. High school is supposed to be the best four years of your life." Witney teased. Witney was set to be the only freshman cheerleader this year and it was kind of a big deal. She'd been dreaming about it since she started cheering when she was six.

"Okay, maybe I'm a little excited," Kara responded, "I just don't want us to end up like all those girls who don't even talk to their friends they started high school with."

"Kara, you know that will never happen. We're always going to be here for each other," Regan finally chimed in. If she could, Regan would skip high school all together. She wasn't a fan of the drama and pressure that came along with it. She would much rather be out traveling, like she'd done for most of the summer.

"I bet all those girls said that to their friends too," Kara argued. She wasn't ready for anything to change, and high school was a whole mess of change.

Witney rolled her eyes. "It won't be so bad Kara. We may make other friends but we always find our way back to each other."

"Let's make a pact," Tally declares. "No matter what happens, we'll always make time for each other."

"And we'll always support each other." Witney added.

"We'll cheer each other up when one of us is down," Kara continued.

"And always be down for midnight adventures," Regan said. All of the girls smiled.

Maybe high school won't be so bad, Kara thought, nothing can break us apart. These girls are my family. A tear rolled down her face, but she wiped it away before anyone could notice. She'd always been the most emotional of the bunch. But, tonight was not about being sad. Tonight was about enjoying this time together; so that is exactly what they'd do.