Elena pulls into the Naficys’ driveway and starts honking the horn. I think about telling her that she’s going to embarrass me, but maybe this kind of over-the-top glee is a detail of this memory that I’ll want to keep. I gaze out my window and see Parisa’s front door fly open. She runs down the stairs, her hair in a messy ponytail whipping around. My nerves dissolve at the sight of her. I unbuckle my seat belt and get out of the car. We stare at each other for a second, and then she pulls me into a hug. We are both screaming and crying now, and I can hear Elena and Julia taking pictures of us on their phones.

“I missed you so much,” she says.

“I missed you, too.”

It feels so nice to hug my best friend without either of us having to worry that we’ll get the other sick. Parisa pulls away, then invites us all into their backyard for lunch.

“My mom and dad have been cooking all day,” she says. “I’m kidding. They told me to say that. We ordered a bunch of takeout.” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the yard.

I follow her, and we fall into an easy dialogue—about her trip, about Wes, about college, about everything. We haven’t seen each other in nearly a year, but when we ramble without any gaps in the conversation, I realize that it feels like our friendship exists in its own little time warp, too. Simultaneously changed and preserved. And no matter how far away from each other the future takes us, no matter where we drift to or where we settle, I know that the moment we reunite, Parisa and I will always pick up right where we left off. Distance and time are just tiny hurdles when it comes to true love.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I started working on the idea for this book two weeks into lockdown (March 20, 2020, to be exact). At the time, my husband and I were just trying to keep our heads above water, taking care of our two boys (aged one and three). Finding time to write was challenging, to say the least, so I would be remiss not to thank the creators of PAW Patrol and The Octonauts for helping this book come to fruition. In all seriousness, there are so many people who supported me throughout this process, and my gratitude is vast and endless. Without them, this story would have never gotten past the idea phase.