She had drawn a snail on her blue converse sneakers. I knew it wasn’t the most astute reason for wanting to make a friend, but something about her drew me towards her, as though she had some sort of magnet in her.

“I’m Lexi,” she said, the first time I approached her. “I’m new. Who are you?”

“Allison,” I replied shakily. I hadn’t had a friend in so long that I wasn’t sure how to act; what to say to another girl. She smiled the most beautiful smile.

From that moment on, we were inseparable. All through junior high, I had the friend I had always dreamed of. Lexi helped me survive algebra, my first date, and a case of mono. Any time I needed her, she was there.

Then we started high school. It was homecoming week when Lexi walked out into the parking lot; it was a Monday that my life was devastated. It was 4:12pm that my best friend in the world was killed.

Even now, as I fill out college apps, I know I will never have another friend like Lexi. And to this day, I always draw a snail on my converse sneakers.