Summer-1965

Lucy is leaving.

She told me very unceremoniously, just spitting it out a couple days after our high school graduation. Lucy and I, we had always been best friends. Just me and Luce, best friends forever. I thought that we were going to have to end our friendship when she left, but it turns out she wasn't going to let that happen.

"So you know how I'm going to go visit Max in New York soon?" Lucy's brother Max and his friend Jude (who I met once but was terribly sexy in that British, artist man way) had moved out to NYC just about a month and a half ago. Lucy had been pining to go out there ever since, whether for her fun and loveable brother or for Jude, I did not know.

"Yup," I stated, not looking up. Really, I wasn't very interested in hearing her talk about how she was going to move to New York and have all this fun and be so successful one more time. It's not so much that I was jealous (even though maybe I was just a little bit of that), but that I was going to miss her so much.

"Ellie, you can stop being so cold to me, I wanted to ask if you wanted to go along with me!" I focused my gaze back to my best friend's clear blue eyes, suddenly all smiley and happy.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you serious? Don't be joking with me, Lucy!" I squealed, jumping from where I sat on her bed.

Lucy rolled her eyes playfully. "Eleanor Rigby, you silly girl, did you really think I could ever leave you behind?"

Yes, I thought almost bitterly, I did consider that. And I would have hated you, because I can't be lonely again.

"No, I guess not. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited! When do we leave?" I lied, trying to cover it up with over-enthusiasm. But that was me, wasn't it? Just a sweet, shy person on one side of my wall, and a cold, sarcastic one on the other. And maybe, even though I had my best friend, a little bit lonely.

"Well, it's not set in stone, you know, because we're just taking the train, but really any time you want!" Lucy paced around her room, returning to the constant packing she had been doing over the past two weeks. She walked into her large walk-in closet (five times bigger than my own) and pulled out a few more pairs of jeans to compare with the ones she had packed yesterday.

"Why are you in such a hurry, anyways? I mean, Max loves you to death, it's not like you're never going to see him again. Besides, why do you have to stay? What's in New York that isn't here?" I said absentmindedly, returning to one of Lucy's mindless romance novels that dotted her room.

"I just want to be there, you know? It seems like the place to be now, with everything that's going on. Besides, Max is there, and…." She trailed off, biting her lip uneasily, then looking at me to finish her thought.

"And Jude is there?" I guessed, trying to run a hand through my auburn curls, but them not letting me. Instead, I pushed them over my shoulder frustratedly.

Lucy put her palm to her lips, giggling shyly. This was very out of character for her. In fact, even though we were both pretty girly, I was more cynical-minded and she was too passionate to be the giggle-into-your-palm type.

I arched one eyebrow, cocking my head and smiling mockingly at her. "He's not that big of a deal. Sure, he's cute and all, but you've only met him a couple times!"

Lucy shrugged. "I'm the kind of person that only needs to meet someone once to know that they're the One. Or, they're one of the Ones." She paused briefly to bend down and pick some shoes off the floor. "You're the type that likes to become friends and then…you know." She became distracted by the shoes again.

Was I that type? I didn't really know my dating preferences myself, so how should Luce know? I hadn't even been out with that many boys, had I? Well, I never liked any of them, so what was the difference, really? I had never fallen for anybody like Lucy fell for Dan, and was bound to fall for Jude. She just had that crazy intensity, and all I had was my stupid wall.

"You know what I think?" Lucy said suddenly, glancing up from her shoes and making her long, straight blonde hair fall back smoothly. "I think we should go tomorrow! That way we could be in the city by night and we could hear that Sadie chick who Max has been raving about." Lucy adopted a distant smile and gazed longingly out her bedroom window, the sun reflecting her eyes and making them even brighter.

"Yeah," I mumbled, trying to sound hesitant like a normal person who wasn't Lucy would. "But I'd have to ask my folks…." Who was I kidding? We both knew my parents were pushing for me to get the hell out of the house so that I wouldn't ask them about college again. At home, I was a miserable person.

"Sure you do. Okay, it's decided." She walked away from the window, plopping herself onto the bed next to me and grabbing my hand eagerly. "Tomorrow we leave for New York City! I can't wait!" She squealed, rolling back into her pillows and laughing uncontrollably.

I grinned gently, letting her go insane for once. I stretched my back, turning to see this strange new person that was once my best friend Lucy. Had it really only taken a boy for her to lighten up this much? And where could I get one?

New York, a voice in my head answered. And I couldn't help but think that this was undeniably true. There were a lot of people there, and one was bound to be my Jude.