Friends don’t stay the same. As the day of my high school graduation approached, the ending became vivid in my mind.      

The three years with my friends would soon be over.

“Most friends disappear right after graduation,” said my homeroom teacher during one of my career counseling sessions. “Though you might run into each other again someday. When that happens, if the connection you had is still as strong as it is now, they might just be your true friends that last for a lifetime.”  

But I don’t want to wait that long to find out. To find out if the friends I have may or may not last.      

“So, you’re going to a university in Tokyo,” Marina brought this up right after I got my entrance exam results. “You’re so lucky. And I got shipped to Osaka.”    

I heard her family ran a beer distillery there. At least she would have a steady job, I thought.      

“I’m going to stay here and take the civic exam,” said Shouko, who’s the most athletic in our group. She’s always the starter at her basketball club. “Whatever job they offer, I’ll take it. Even if it means becoming a policewoman.”      

“I’ll try to become a teacher,” said Sachi. “So I’m going to university too, nearby.”      

From the sound of it, the four of us would end up scattered everywhere. Even if we managed to get together again, it could take years or even decades. But perhaps it’s time for me to accept this. Sometimes we say goodbye so that we may meet again someday.  

And when that day comes, I pray we may all be together the way we are now.