"Do you guys remember when we were obsessed with that country anime in middle school?"

That one question sent several feelings through the three girls who had been catching up with each other. It had been a very long time since those days, years in fact. Victoria laughed, holding her stomach as Sarah smacked her for bringing up "such a cringe time" in their lives. Victoria doubted that there was one person out there who didn't look back at themselves in middle school and cringe internally, regardless of whether they enjoyed "the weird things" in life then or not. After all, middle school was a time of self-discovery and marked the shift into the pubescent stage. Who wanted to remember a time where 80% of the students didn't know how to dress themselves and everyone smelled bad?

Victoria, Sarah, and Addison had grown a lot since then and were now college students. The three had separated after graduating high school, each going to colleges in different states and moving on towards a new chapter of their lives. They had a hard time keeping in touch, but didn't hold any ill feelings towards one another because of a mutual understanding of how busy one's schedule could be in college. Victoria knew she had a hard time keeping in touch with nearly everyone. It was hard to try to maintain a semblance of a social life whilst working and taking classes at the same time.

After a long winter quarter, they met up during the break when Sarah and Addi came home from their respective out-of-state universities. Sarah and Addi were close to graduating from their universities and wanted to have a sort of final get together. After all, they knew once they graduated from college that they would rarely see each other once they began their official adult lives because of joining the workforce.

It's a hard pill to swallow, especially for Victoria, who often had a hard time not holding on to the past and her regrets. She always wished she spent more time trying to keep in touch throughout their college years, as she missed the friendship they had as adolescents. It's hard thinking about what they used to have and not blaming herself for not pushing for more. Victoria always had a hard time adapting to change in general and her struggles in moving on from the past was probably her biggest vice as a person.

But all she could do was look at her two oldest friends and try to enjoy the little time they had together before they all moved on with their lives.

Victoria decided a little reminiscing wouldn't be the worst idea right now compared to getting depressed over the fact that they're all going to be sent into the working adult world soon, therefore asserting the end of their childhood.

Looking at her friends, she mentally noted how they've changed. Victoria could see how much her friends had changed not just physically, but also mentally. Their sense of style, their hair, and even the way they spoke were different.

Addison stopped wearing her colorful headbands and athletic jackets everywhere. She had a very modest but sensible sense of style now. Her dirty blonde hair was longer now, reaching her mid-back and still as smooth and straight as ever. However, there was one thing about her that stayed the same. To no one's surprise, Addison's baby cheeks were as squishy and pink as ever, emphasizing her youthful appearance. Victoria loved how that part of her was the same. It wouldn't be Addi after all if she didn't have her chipmunk cheeks.

Sarah seemed to do a complete switch around. In middle school, she was a more aggressive, blunt person. Her wardrobe solely comprised shades of black and white. As she matured, so did her wardrobe. She wore a broader range of colors and her great sense of fashion only improved the older she got. Sarah now had a more extroverted personality and seemed to love to socialize, at least from Victoria's perspective. Sarah's long black hair was currently dyed to a medium brown color with slightly lighter highlights in it to add some depth. She always had subtle, but cute, makeup to complement her style.

Victoria was slightly envious about how much those two had really matured. She knew she wasn't the same as she was in middle school, but damn, she still felt far behind them. Victoria's education had been severely pushed back because of financial issues. She also had an extremely hard time deciding on her career path. How could she not compare herself to her seemingly more successful friends?

Regardless, she remembered she had to work on speaking kinder to herself and tried to give herself some credit that after four grueling years in high school; she graduated and had two jobs and was a working college student trying to figure out her life. She had also physically changed a lot since middle school too. Victoria now had shorter hair that was above her shoulders. It was one of the best decisions she made. Victoria felt freer with shorter hair and liked that she looked less like a child. After all, still being stuck at 5 feet in height at her age already wasn't helping her case. Victoria was also thankful that, with Sarah's help in high school, she actually ended up improving her sense of fashion. After ditching the ugly hoodies, worn out leather jackets, old sweatpants, and long messy hair, she tried styles that were still comfortable but also looked infinitely better.

She looked around the small cafe they had met up at. It was small, cozy, and the smell of coffee felt like home to Victoria.

She smiled, "It's hard to believe how much we've changed since those days where we read fanfiction and giggled about 2D men."

"We have changed a lot, but it doesn't change the fact that we can still get along and laugh like we used to" Sarah smirked, "But has it really changed because as far as I know you still read fanfiction, Vicki."

Addi and Sarah both laughed as Victoria crossed her arms as a self-defense mechanism, "Okay, but at least the quality has improved and I'm not exactly reading Hetalia fanfiction anymore!" She huffed.

"Yeah, but at least those days have died and now we can pretend to be normal." Sarah said, leaning back in her chair as she cupped her iced chai tea with two freshly manicured hands.

Addi made a face. "Yeah, but nowadays, what is even classified as normal anymore?"

Victoria shrugged, "Not me, that's for fucking sure."

"Don't you have a job, dude?"

"Yeah, doesn't mean I don't have my guilty pleasures," Victoria replied.

Sarah made a face. "Like fanfiction?" She teased.

"I don't think you get to judge my hobbies bitch, don't forget that even though I wrote the fanfics, YOU edited them." Victoria said pointedly in response.

"Hey, I was just making it better. Besides, they were your words, not mine. I was just fixing them for the sake of our audience back in the day."

The three girls laughed, talking about how embarrassed they were from their middle school selves, looking at old photos of how they used to dress, and enjoyed each other's presence for another two hours.

After the time catching up had passed, they decided it was time to leave the establishment. So they cleaned up their table, gathered their things, and began their walk outside. They stopped by an empty park and sat on a bench.

As it was the end of Winter break, the sun had already set. They watched the sky turn darker and winced at the occasional icy wind that blew through their hair.

Victoria could feel sadness overtake her as she knew after today it was over. They were done being kids and from then on would be the adults the world expected them to be. At least Sarah and Addi appeared to be ready.

Victoria felt in her heart that feeling of regret again.

Why didn't I text them more? Is this really the end?

They stared in silence until the sun was over the horizon. Addi was the one who broke the silence first.

"I guess it's time to go home."

As they turned and parted ways, Victoria felt lightheaded. She stopped walking, looking behind her to see her friends had done the same. They looked at each other bemusedly.

What was going on?

Victoria was about to ask her friends if they were okay until an incredibly bright light suddenly blinded her.