Kagome picked out of her closet a lacy blue shirt and dark jeans. Getting dressed, she thought, I'm going to miss Auymi, Eri and Yuka so much!

She walked out of the house and closed the door. Quickly hopping on her pink bike, she pedaled in the direction of Yuki's house.

A few minutes later and slightly out of breath, she walked into Yuka's house. Inside, a large white banner across the living room said, 'We'll miss you Kagome!' in curly pink letters.

Just then, Auymi walked into the living room with her arms full of crepe paper.

"You're early!", she exclaimed.

"Yeah... Want me to help?"

"No way! It's your party!"

"All right."

"I still can't believe you're going! I'm gonna miss you so much! You have to email me every single day!"

Kagome laughed. "Sure! And you have to reply to me every single day, too!

Just then, Yuka came and started to arrange the food.

"Hey Kagome! I got you a going away present! Auymi and
Eri helped with it."

"Oh, you shouldn't of!"

"But I wanted to! You'll never guess what it is!"

"What is it?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Yuka smiled wickedly.

---

The boom box was blasting rock music. Kagome danced and danced. Later, she received many presents. One by one, she ripped open the wrapping paper and set aside the tissue paper. Kagome got little cherry earrings, a silver necklace, a cute sky blue skirt, a book, and a special box of healing herbs (from Hojo, as always).
She looked a little puzzled, as she hadn't recieved a single present from her three best friends yet. However, Eri came parading in with a big light green bag with blue tissue papaer sticking out of the top.

"I saved the best for last!" she grinned, handing the bag to Kagome. It was heavy.

She reached into the bag and felt something hard and smooth. Pulling it out, she saw it was a thick lilac scrapbook with the words, 'Friends 'til the End' in elegant purple script. Kagome opened the scrapbook and saw inside there were pictures of Kagome, Eri and Auymi at school, at the mall, at the park and more. She could see the pages were painstakingly decorated and the pictures were carefully placed. On the inside cover, in purple gel pen it said, 'From Yuka, Auymi and Eri. We'll miss you!'

Kagome was touched by the gift.

Auymi asked, "Do you like it?"

"Of course! It's beautiful! How long did it take you to
make this?"

Yuka replied, "The whole weekend, more or less..."

"Thanks so much! This is the best present I've ever gotten."

Tears started to form in Kagome's eyes. She was leaving these wonderful friends behind! What would she do in America? She would miss them so much.

The rest of the people at the party silently left. They knew that Kagome would want to be alone with her friends.

Kagome quietly leafed through the scrapbook. There were pictures of when Eri moved here at age 6, and pictures of Auymi at the park, where they first met. Pictures of Yuka with Kagome in preschool, and pictures of their last sleepover. Pictures of countless birthdays, parties and trips to amusement parks.

The four friends walked outside with each other. There was no need for words, for they knew each other so well. After a while, they came to a hill of grass, and lay down, watching the stars.