Two

“You know it sucks being a freshman again,” Mila said to Emma as they walked through the campus of Washington University for the very first time. Although Emma did not have any classes until 1 pm, she went with Mila at 11 am to explore the campus, hoping to make a friend or two.

“How so?” Emma wondered, looking at Mila for a moment as she adjusted her backpack.

“We were seniors in high school and everybody looked at us like we were on some kind of superior level. Here, we are freshmen again, juniors and seniors look at us like we are fresh meat and they probably laugh at us, sophomores are the only ones who MIGHT have some mercy on us,” Mila explained with a simple shrug.

“Can you just promise me one thing?” Emma asked her best friend quietly. It was a thought that had plagued Emma’s thoughts for a long while and she wanted to give her mind a rest.

“What?” Mila asked her softly with a frown on her face, knowing quite well that Emma was nervous and scared by the tone she used.

“Promise me that we will always be friends...like you won’t forget about me and you’d be here for me if I ever messed up. You can easily make friends and forget about me and I won’t blame you, I mean I know I’m lame and boring and you could easily find someone way better than me...just please don’t abandon me,” Emma has always been scared of the idea of Mila abandoning her.

“Oh Em, I’d never replace you,” Mila cooed, pulling Emma into a gentle hug. “You’re my best friend of eleven years, how can I just forget about you like that? And stop saying you’re lame and boring because you’re not," Mila assured her best friend. “Now, I want you to promise me one thing. I want you to promise me that you’ll make new friends and do your best to get out of your shell, okay?”

“You know it’s not easy for me, but I will do my best, I promise," Emma promised Mila with a small smile on her face.

“That's my bestie!” Mila exclaimed, encouraging her best friend and cheering for her just like she always did.

Mila has always been supportive of her best friend no matter what. She knew that Emma needed somebody in her life to be proud of her and cheer for her, so she decided to be that person. She knew that Emma was a great person and she would be very successful even without the help of her parents, but she was not given the chance to be on her own. Her parents were always there to control her, instead of guiding her.

Throughout high school, Mila did her best to try to get Emma out of her shell, so she took her to parties and made her go out as much as possible, but she would always have her eyes on the naïve girl. She did not want her to be the shy girl that people end up taking advantage of. She has already seen people use Emma more than once and she warned her, but Emma did not listen and she would always end up getting hurt one way or another then she would run back to Mila and cry her eyes out for being too stupid to believe that those people really wanted to befriend her.

Mila walked away to her first class, leaving Emma all by herself to explore the new place. Emma took a deep breath and started to walk around the campus, trying to memorise the place as much as possible.

“Excuse me, where is lecture room 320?” Emma asked a girl with dyed red hair.

“The next floor, it should be on the right,” the girl answered Emma, “are you new here?”

“Yeah, my first day and I thought I should explore the place for a bit before my first lecture,” Emma smiled at the girl in front of her.

“That's why you came early? I’m Ariana by the way, you can call me Ari for short.”

“I’m Emma and yeah I came early to explore and also my best friend had an early lecture and I didn’t want to stay home alone,” Emma told Ariana.

“You share a dorm with your best friend? That’s great!” Ariana exclaimed.

“We share an apartment, not a dorm, but it is still great to live with your best friend!”

“We must talk again, here is my number. Message me. I have to go now, bye!” Ariana said and handed Emma a piece of paper that had her number on it.

Emma was ecstatic that she almost made one friend on her first day. She knew that Mila would be proud of her. Maybe college was not bad after all, maybe she was going to be a whole new person in college.

“You waited for me? Aren’t you the best!?” Mila grinned, walking over to Emma with a girl by her side. She has just finished her lecture. “Emma, this is Julie, Julie this is Emma, my best friend, actually childhood best friend,” Mila introduced them to each other.

“Nice to meet you, Emma, I’ve heard a lot about you during the past three hours,” Julie told Emma, who smiled at her.

“Cause she is the best! Can’t believe I don’t have any lectures with her,” Mila said dramatically with a fake pout as she threw her arms over Emma.

“She is not usually that weird, I can assure you,” Emma told Julie, giggling a bit, making Mila slap her arm playfully.

“Oh don’t worry, if you think she is weird, wait till you see me,” Julie laughed.

“Did you meet anyone?” Mila asked Emma. Hope was obvious in her eyes.

“I actually did! Her name is Ariana and she gave me her number, I’m supposed to message her,” Emma said with a wide smile on her face.

“I’m so proud of you! That’s my bestie!” Mila exclaimed, happiness obvious in her voice.

“Calm down! I did not win the Olympics,” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Way to kill the mood, Adams,” Mila muttered.

“Are you two always like this?” Julie asked, raising an eyebrow.

“90% of the time,” Mila answered with a cheeky smile.

“You were so different in class,” Julie told Mila.

“Yeah, she is like Hannah Montana, double life,” Emma smirked at Mila, knowing how much she hated Hannah Montana.

“You’re sooooo going to get it when we get home,” Mila playfully threatened Emma.

“I really need to go now, I will call you, Mila,” Julie said, giggling a little before leaving.

“She seems nice,” Emma told Mila as they both walked to the car.

“She is,” Mila agreed. “I’m so hungry, I can’t wait to get home.”

“Same here, Mil, same here,” Emma mumbled tiredly. One thing they both agreed on: college was exhausting as hell.