With Emily and I, it was an instant ‘I can tell I’m going to like you.’ I knew, with her short hair and numerous rock band t-shirts, that she would become my friend. The first few conversations were filled with the question “Oh my god, you like that too?” She was the first real friend I made in high school, although I had lingering ones from middle school. She introduced me to a whole new world of friendship, one where it’s unthinkable to stab each other in the back, and one that’s quite hard to find. Emily understands that I’m not always good at telling the people I care about that I care about them, and never fails to let me know that she cares about me. Our friendship is probably the best one I’ve yet to encounter. I sense that it will persist through a lot of stages of life.