Much to Carolyn’s horror, wacky Mr. Ercolano, the language arts teacher, who wore his hair a bit shaggy to complement his mutton-chop sideburns, declared that everyone in the class was to immediately select a partner, because today was the day they were going to learn how to “really talk about themselves with another human being.” Ercolano had spent a summer on a commune during college and this was one of the things they did with the aid of hallucinogens. He’d come up with this brilliant idea last night while he and his girlfriend stared at the night sky from their beach chairs sharing a joint. This was going to be heavy.

Of course, the kids instantly gravitated toward their friends, elated at the opportunity to spend the next forty minutes joking and gossiping rather than listening to that windbag Ercolano drone on about dangling participles, the dangers of homonyms, and other nonsense they would never put to use. The room instantly came alive with activity.

Carolyn didn’t really know anyone, and would never have just walked up to a veritable stranger, so she slowly rose and stood next to her desk, mortified as the rest of the class paired up. She felt a jolt of fear in her stomach that would doubtless explode into that horrible red blotch that erupted on her throat whenever she was embarrassed. She was certain that within seconds she would be derided as the most uncool person ever to exist in the history of the universe. Then she heard a sweet sound.

“You look like you could use a partner. I’m Rachel. What’s your name?”

And so were spoken the first of many millions of words they would share with each other during their lifetimes. Neither of them could remember what they talked about on that day, but talk they did, non-stop, until the bell rang. Then they exchanged numbers at the classroom door. Each knew they had found someone special. Carolyn never forgot Rachel’s simple act of kindness. She knew Rachel was one of the “cool” kids who easily could have matched up with someone else, but, as Carolyn was to learn, Rachel always followed her heart and her natural instinct was to reach out to help someone in need.

For her part, Rachel discovered that Carolyn was someone she could trust with her deepest secrets, which was amazing, because she spent so much of her time hiding the truth. At fourteen, Rachel’s life was already filled with darkness that she spent much of her time hiding from the world. But for some reason, when she looked into Carolyn’s eyes that first day, she began to learn how to trust a friend.

A few months after they met, Rachel did something with Carolyn that she almost never did with anyone; she brought her home.