I looked over towards my group of friends who had already gathered in front of the school. They were laughing and the boys were jostling each other good naturedly.

The group consisted of my closest friends Georgie, Sakura, Jenna, Eamon, Raul, Dylan and Owen. All of us had grown up together in some form and were like an extended chaotic family. Weekends were never dull when you had friends like these.

There were always adventures to be had whether it was just hanging out at the mall or spending time at the local lake, it always felt like there was something to do… and of course the group had supported me through Dad’s disappearance, they had lent me their shoulders to cry on but also kept me busy so I hadn’t fallen into a dark hole of misery and sadness.

Georgie was my closest ‘closest’ friend, like literally. She lived next door to us which means we’d grown up side by side and were always at each other's houses. Due to the closeness of our arrangement, we basically regarded ourselves as sisters.

Our Moms were also old college friends so when a house had become available next door to Mom and Dad when they were first married, Mom had called Georgie’s Mom Sandra, to let her know. Lucky for me, Georgie’s parents bought it and moved in straight away. Sandra and Mom also were pregnant with us at the same time and often joked about how we were ‘womb mates’.

We were quite similar in height and looks which suited us just fine, because we got to swap clothes and shoes with each other so it was like having an extended wardrobe to choose from.

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Sakura and Jenna I had met at kindergarten on my first day there. The memory of that time in general was now a little hazy, but we had hit it off straight away over a platter of cookies at my first lunch break. A shared love of food had brought us together which had continued throughout all the years of us knowing each other.

Sakura’s family had moved to Camden Falls from Japan when she was just a baby, but her family still enveloped her in rich traditions from their Japanese culture. We got to share in a lot of the experiences too which we all embraced and enjoyed. I loved visiting Sakura’s family home, her parents and Grandmother were always incredibly welcoming and I found a lot of comfort in that after losing Dad.

Jenna on the other hand had grown up with her Grandma after her Dad had left when she was small and her mother had been called away for her job as a marine. Her mother visited a few times a year and Jenna would look forward to seeing her, getting excited in the months leading up to each date.

With Eamon, Raul and Dylan, we had all started hanging out together when Sakura and Eamon had dated during our freshman year. They had since broken up but had remained really great friends, which was good for the rest of us because we all enjoyed each other's company.

Owen had been the last to join the group. He was the comic of our collective and made every interaction jovial with his quick quips and wit. Owen had sadly lost both parents when he was young and currently lived with his Uncle who was an archaeologist. His Uncle Sabian also ran the town’s museum and often let Owen and us hang out there after hours so we could explore and look at any new artifacts that had been discovered to put on show.

I smiled as I looked at them all. They were more than friends to me, they were my heart.