Transitioning from elementary school into middle school was hard enough as it was, not to mention making new friends. I always had a close group of friends, but we knew that we would change when we got to middle school and met more and new people. Throughout sixth grade me and my friends met a lot of new people, one of which being my best friend now. A lot of the people that we met I was close friends with then and still am now, but one girl just stood out to me.
        

All my friends liked her and thought she was so nice and funny, but for some reason I just didn't feel the same way. We just didn't get along. It's not that I didn’t like her, we just didn’t get along like she did with my other friends. We had a class together and worked together on projects. As hard as we tried for it not to be awkward, it still was. As much as we tried to get along something just was not right. We only had one class together so we didn't see each other that often in the school day. But as summer came, my entire friend group would want to hang out. Being one of the only ones with a pool, my house is where we would normally hang out.
        

That year my mom decided to throw me a surprise birthday party. She invited all my friends to my house to have a pool party. I decided not to open gifts with everyone there, because I think that it can get awkward, so when everyone left I went up to my room and opened all my gifts. When I opened the gift box I saw a silver bracelet. I tried it on, but it was a little ig on me and was falling off, so put all the gifts away and didn't really think much of some of them including the bracelet for a few days.
        

The next year came and to our surprise we had almost every class together, and we only had a few with our other friends. I decided with myself to try to be friends with her and not hold anything against her. As time went by and we bonded in all our classes, we became closer and closer everyday. Soon we were hanging out after school almost everyday; and we realized that we were more alike than we were different.
        

The more that we got to know each other the more that we realized that our families were alike too. We decided that our moms should meet because we knew that they would instantly become best friends. And as soon as they met and started talking they became very close friends. Not only were we best friends but our moms were too.
        

One day her aunt came to my house to pick her up, as her aunt and my mom were talking they found out that my cousin in California married her cousin in California. I am very close with my family in California, even though she is not. Now not only were we best friends but we were also cousins.
        

The longer that we were friends the more alike we realized that we are. We like the same jokes, movies, shows, and even food. Our families are also alike; its easy for us to relate because our parents act the same. We like to joke because sometimes our moms will only let us go somewhere if the other is also going.
        

Our friendship has changed a lot since middle school, we are close with each other’s families and know everything about each other. We can trust each other and come to each other with anything. Throughout our friendship, we have gotten into some fights, but always manage to find our way out of it and stronger each time.
        

Now when I look at the bracelet that she gave me, I think about how our friendship started and how much we have changed since then. We often joke about how we used to hate each other and how we are now so close and inseparable. When we told our moms how our friendship started they couldn't believe us because of how our friendship has changed. We are able to tell each other anything and know that they will understand and know that no judgment will follow. When I first received the bracelet, all that I saw is as was just a pretty silver bracelet, but now it is a symbol of our friendship. As we got older and matured more, we realized that we really are best friends, and as the older that we got the more the bracelet began to fit better and better.