Sarah and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. Our moms said we even shared a crib as babies. All I know is, she's my best friend and my partner in crime. Sarah and I did everything together and always had each other's backs.
Our favorite thing to do was sit and listen to Sarah's mom, Lilian, tell us stories about her and my mom when they were kids. My mom, Lola, and Sarah's mom, Lilian, were also high school friends — or "frenemies," as Lilian liked to say. They always liked the same boys and competed in everything they could think of, but they were still thick as thieves.
After high school, Lilian went to college, where she met Connor — the love of her life, as she would say — while my mom decided to tour the country with her high school sweetheart, Nick. That made them drift apart. After college, Lilian and Connor decided to get married since she was pregnant, and they settled down in the countryside — a good place to raise their beautiful daughter, Sarah.
A few months later, my mom, Lola, moved closer to be with her friend. However, it was just pregnant Lola, as my dad decided to continue touring on his own. Five months later, I was born, and eight months after that, Sarah was born. Lilian said she picked my name, Emma, and my mom picked Sarah's name.
After we were born, they decided to raise us together. We went to the same school and did everything side by side. When we were five, Lilian got pregnant again and had Nathan — the most adorable baby boy you've ever seen. Sarah and I loved him dearly. Our parents always told people they had three children; we were never seen as just friends but as sisters.
I basically grew up in Sarah's house, as my mom was always searching for the next love of her life. Though she'd had her heart broken many times, she was still a hopeless romantic who believed the right one was yet to come — which didn't leave much time for me. But I was fine with that. Being with Lilian was the best thing in the world. She took us shopping, taught us to cook, and never missed our Friday night slumber parties. To me, she was the best mom in the world.
When Sarah and I were fifteen, she had a crush on Nick, the quarterback. That was our first fight ever, because while Nick was leading Sarah on, he always told me how much he liked me. I thought I was being a good friend by warning her about him, but it only made her upset. She didn't talk to me for weeks, so I spent most of my time with Lilian and Nathan.
Nathan was like my little brother. After Sarah started dating, she barely had time for him, so Nathan and I spent almost every day together after school. During the summer, he followed me everywhere — I even taught him how to swim.
Weeks passed, then months, with Sarah still not speaking to me. One day, she showed up in my room crying, saying I'd been right about Nick and apologizing for not believing me. We spent the whole weekend crying, eating ice cream, and watching every rom-com we could find. That was our first and last fight.
Finally, senior year came, and Sarah and I made big plans — to get our first perms, learn to drive, and more. But then my mom decided we had to move so she could be closer to her new love interest. Sarah and I begged and cried for days, but once my mom made up her mind, there was no changing it. We promised to keep in touch every single day — and we did, for a while. Then it became twice a week, then once a week, then once a month... for seven years.
When I left, Nathan was heartbroken. He cried and begged to come with me. I talked to him as often as I could, but eventually, even that faded.
Now, at twenty-five, I live alone in an apartment in LA, working as an assistant to a douchey boss. One morning, while grabbing his coffee, I ran into Abby, an old friend from high school. We were thrilled to see each other! She told me she was getting married back home and wanted me to come. I agreed.
I took a week off work and flew back. I was nervous to see everyone again. At the airport, while waiting for my Uber, someone touched my shoulder. I turned around — and to my surprise, it was my sister, my best friend, my partner in crime, Sarah. I hadn't seen her in five years. We froze for a moment, then fell into each other's arms, hugging so long I lost count.
We talked and cried, laughing like no time had passed. When my Uber arrived, we got in holding hands, still sniffling. The driver probably thought we were star-crossed lovers. We talked the whole forty-minute ride about everything — my job I hated, her plans to move back home (which, she made me swear, no one else could know).
When we finally got to Sarah's house, I was so nervous. Sarah opened the front door, and Lilian jumped out from behind it, wrapping her arms around Sarah tightly. They've always been more like best friends than mother and daughter — and I was never jealous, because Lilian loved me just as much.
When she saw me, she gasped, covered her mouth, and then rushed over to hug me so tight I could hardly breathe. "Let me look at you," she said, turning me around before hugging me again. That's what a mother's love feels like — and Lilian had always been that for me.
Then Sarah's dad, Nick, ran up and hugged me. "My babies!" he said.
"Dad, we're not babies anymore," Sarah laughed.
"You'll always be my babies," he replied.
They've never treated me differently from their own kids.
After a while, we realized Nathan wasn't there. "Where's Nathan?" we asked.
"He arrived yesterday," Lilian said. "He went to town with some friends — he'll be back later. Now come sit, let's eat."
We ate, talked, and laughed. As always, Nick and Lilian went out on a date afterward — still as in love as ever. Sarah invited some friends over while her parents were gone. We sat by the pool — me, Sarah, Abby, Claire, and Taylor (whom we jokingly called "the flirt").
Abby told us about her wedding plans. We were laughing about old times when the sliding door opened. It was like a scene in slow motion — this tall, handsome man walked through, and everyone's eyes turned toward him. Then we heard, "Emmy."
It was the nickname Nathan gave me when he was little, because he couldn't say Emma. It was a name only he was allowed to call me. My breath caught in my throat.
Taylor whispered, "Wow, who's the hunk?"
Abby's eyes nearly popped out, and Sarah jumped up yelling, "Baby bro!"
I was frozen in place. He walked over, flicked my forehead, and said, "Don't you remember me, Emmy?"
I stammered, "Of course I do. You just look like an old man now."
He laughed, hugged me, and whispered, "I've missed you, Emmy."
We talked all afternoon. His friends came by, and we stayed up until late at night, catching up.
When I finally stood up to leave for my hotel, Sarah said, "What do you mean? You're not going anywhere. Cancel your reservation — you're staying here."
I smiled. "Fine."
Everyone else went home. Sarah went upstairs to freshen up, and Nathan and I sat and talked. Something about him was different. He was more mature, his smile more mysterious.
The last time I saw him, I was eighteen and he was thirteen. Now I'm twenty-five and he's twenty — but somehow, it felt like decades had passed.