"I really don't even remember how we became friends."

“You can’t be serious,” Karma stated, looking up from her sketchbook. Her exasperated expression was twisted with irritation, they had been discussing all day. Going back and forth between ideas for what they should do with the next two days. 

They were located at Karmas parent’s house, with little freedom and an itch to do something. They had been left to their own devices in the middle of nowhere Texas, and they only had a couple of days left. Zoey had to head back to Florida for school, and the girls weren’t excited to part. 

Finally, Zoey had suggested the idea of a road trip, and Karma wasn’t pleased by the idea. However, it was the first one that both girls had reveled in for a moment. It wouldn’t cost thousands of dollars, like the idea of staying in the most expensive hotel they could find. And it was unlike the shot-down idea of parasailing in the Gulf of Mexico. 

“So, what do you think K?” Zoey questioned, purposefully keeping her tone soft. She could see the gears weighing in Karmas’s head. Zoey looked toward the notebook and breathed a sigh. They would have to think of a new idea, obviously, Karma wasn’t completely sold. 

“Well, what would we do in the car. Wouldn’t we get bored?” Karma asked, and rolled her eyes when Zoey squealed. 

She jumped into all the ideas, in the car they could listen to blaring music, with little worry of people hearing it. They could stop in the middle of nowhere, get out of the car, and scream till their throats were sore. Or go to their favorite fast food place and eat a meal for eight. 

Zoey watched as Karma seemed to like the new idea, and she grabbed a notebook. The now confused girl watched as Karma walked to the bed and began writing. 

“What are you doing?” Zoey asked, her hands wringing together thinking she had messed up. 

“Well, we’re going to need a game plan,” Karma replied, with a hint of a smirk on her face. Zoey jumped through the air, excited for what this journey could hold. 

***

They decided to leave at night, they would be in New Orleans by morning. Ten o’clock at night seemed reasonable, at the time, but now two hours in, they were starting to regret it. Zoey had offered to drive first, with Karma navigating. A conversation was sparked, the girl’s voices began to rise over the GPS. 

“I’m just saying K, when were freshman, you were the math champion, and I was the English nerd.” Zoey persuaded making Kamra rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. 

“I remember you being relatively good at history.” she retorted, the phone lay forgotten on the middle console. Zoey sighed, and her eyes were beginning to get heavy. After a moment of silence, she looked toward Karma, to make sure she wasn’t tired too. 

“Are you ready to drive yet?” she questioned, Karma looked startled for a moment. Then reached for the phone. 

“Yeah, let me see if there’s a Starbucks to stop at.” Karma offered, tapping through the map, after a moment she began whispering to herself. 

“Umm- K, is something wrong?” Zoey asked, anxiety began to bubble in her stomach. Karma stopped, looking up at her through her hair. 

“Well, oh gosh, we seemed to have taken the wrong turn a while back there,” Karma whispered, and Zoey let out a groan. 

They drove back and forth, the map leading them off and on the highway, trailing through neighborhoods and shopping centers. The girls bickered, laughed, switching drivers every two hours. 

Karma preferred to drive in silence, headphones in her ears and different genres of music blaring. Zoey drove with caution to the wind, and rock metal blasting. This was usually met with an astute amount of resistance from Karma, with yelled warnings, and weak threats. 

Eventually, they reached their correct road, and the journey seemed to be far from ending. 

*** 

“What are we going to do in New Orleans?” Zoey asked, setting her book in her lap, and Karma took the earbuds out. 

“Well, I was thinking about going to the spot where we had one the one dance competition,” Karma replied, Zoeys face lit up with surprise. 

“You mean the one that we moved up into Champion!” Zoey exclaimed, Karma breathed a laugh. Zoey had a sneaky suspicion that Karma had planned that idea, as maybe a surprise for them. 

“Yes! And maybe get Beignets?” Zoey pleaded, practically begging her best friend. Karma nodded, and both girls let out a yell of excitement, even after the rocky start the girls had high hopes. 

*** 

The day dragged on, and soon the friends noticed New Orleans printed on highway signs. Every time they saw one, Zoey would jump up and make sure that Karma saw it, Karma would nod and smile at Zoey’s antics. 

As the day stretched to lunch, both girls had matching pangs of hunger in their stomachs. Zoey watched as a Culvers sign passed, and she looked toward her best friend. 

“Hey K, would you mind if we stopped for lunch?” she asked, and Karma looked up from her book. Zoey looked back to the road and listened for her answer.

“Yeah, why not, you want Culvers or something else?” Karma offered, picking her phone up so she could find food. 

“Whatever you want, maybe we should get something with sit-down seating,” Zoey replied, and she noticed an old diner just off the highway. The driver was becoming impatient, and antsy.  She ripped off the exit with no warning, and Karma made a sound of surprise. 

“What are you doing?” yelped Karma, almost knocked off her seat from the force of the quick turn. Zoey explained the idea of the diner, and Karma pondered the idea. “I mean we don’t

 have much else of a choice.” 

They drove on the road for a moment, before they found the entrance of the diner. It looked rusted, paint that was faded, and the banner above the door was slightly tattered. The banner read WELCOME TO SUNNY’S DINER. Zoey heard Karma mutter that the building didn’t look that sunny. 

While they walked in a prim woman called out a faint hello, her attention-drawing back to her magazine. The girls walked to a booth and sat down across from each other, Karma bared Zoey a glance of hesitance. 

Zoey picked up a menu and read through the options, she noted the vegetarian options for Karma and continued to breeze through the options. Karma sighed of annoyance, and Zoey looked up at her by the time she sighed for the fourth time. 

“Alright, what’s wrong?” she asked, as she watched Karma flipped through the pages of the menu. Karma looked up and shrugged. 

“What am I going to eat here?” Karam responded, and Zoey smirked in confidence. 

“Well, there’s a bunch of options, like a gluten-free cheese quesadilla.” Zoey offered, and Karmas eyes lit up. She began to flip through the pages before she found the mentioned menu item, she looked up at Zoey and gave a slight nod. Zoey understood the motion, Karma wanted to get the cheese quesadilla, and she was offering a silent apology. 

The waitress came up to the table, the tap of her foot and the way she snapped her gum, she didn’t seem to be very happy. She had a snappy tone when asking for the drink order, and Zoey looked back toward her menu. Karma sunk into her seat, and Zoey looked toward the annoyed waitress once she picked her order. 

“Hi, I will have a sweet tea and my friend here will have a lemonade.” she chirped pleasantly, ordering for both her and Karma. Zoey’s mom had always told her to kill them with kindness. She mapped the way Karma tried to hide, figuring it was from the waitress. 

The waitress popped her bubble and nodded to both girls. Zoey tapped the table, and Karma looked up, her face was furrowed and the silence between them was thick. 

“So, are you excited to get to New Orleans?” Zoey asked, hoping to stop the stream of thoughts that she could sense were bubbling through Karma. 

Karma was always nervous around strangers, especially people who decided to come off rude and mean. She would hide, and would most likely let Zoey deal with them. This gave Zoey a sense of pride, like a duty she held with the greatest honor.

Karma just nodded and began to fiddle with her thumbs, she mumbled something, and Zoey had to lean in to hear it. 

“I’m excited to spend time with you,” she whispered, and Zoey’s heart swelled. After a few moments, which she thought Karma would say more, Zoey reached for her phone. She played solitaire and different ripped-off versions of Candy Crush. 

The waitress came back a few minutes later, with the drinks, and to ask the for the food order. Zoey ordered their food, though she did need to ask her friend what she wanted for a snack. Besides that, it went without any hitch. 

When the food arrived, they ate in silence, and Zoey listened to the world around them. The scraping of frocks, and the conversations of families and friends, most were people stopping by. Everyone once in a while a roar of laughter would sound from a table, and there would be more coming. Zoey watched a person walked in and out, ordering at the desk, or sitting to be waited on. 

Zoey always enjoyed people watching, taking a moment to glimpse into someone else’s life. The barest moment, that they themselves might never remember. Zoey could hear their conversations, hearing them talk about the sights they’d seen, or about the family, they went to visit. She smiled when she heard a couple whisper sweet nothings to each other, and her smile remained throughout the meal. 

They paid within thirty minutes, and Karma let out a sigh as they exited the building. 

“I’m glad we’re out of there, it was too loud,” she explained and looked pleased when they saw the car. They jumped in, and were on the road, Zoey was still smiling even with Karma’s annoyed expression. 

***

The Welcome to New Orleans sign loomed over their heads, and both girls crammed their heads to get a good look. After lunch, Karma had become more open and eventually lost her hurt expression. The car had then been filled with laughter, and playful banter, all the way to New Orleans. 

Both girls were excited to be there and to be with each other. This car ride felt like it had lasted a lifetime, living the moments in miles. Something bittersweet seemed to hang in the air. The girls wouldn’t see each other for months after this, Zoey was off to college and Karma was going to volunteer at a veterinarian hospital. Both responsibilities left very little time for fun activities, and the idea left the girls saddened. 

The GPS beeped to alert them their turn was coming up, and the hotel made Zoey’s eyes prick. They had let Karma pick out where they were staying, and it seemed Karma was in a sentimental mood. 

The hotel was the same one they had stayed in almost six years ago, for the competition that they won. The competition was special, they had both won and moved up to the Champion level. That day had been amazing, the girls had cried in excitement together, and had gotten food afterward. Their dance class was where they met, and without their sport, they wouldn’t hadn’t ever connected. 

They pulled into a spot right by the entrance, and Karma rushed to go and check-in. She seemed reluctant too, due to having to interact with people she didn’t know, but the reservation was under her name.

 As she was gone Zoey pulled the luggage from the back, and began to load the trolley. She looked up through the hotel’s entrance, and her eyes began to prickle with tears. 

The room was crowded, especially in a small entryway, people were standing by waiting for others, or checking out. Zoey’s eye traced the room, and she caught a wave out of the side of the room. 

Karma was by the elevator, waiting for Zoey. Once Zoey made it to the elevator, Karma reached for a bag. As they entered the elevator, Zoey looked toward Karma. 

“Thanks,” she said simply, and Karma had a warm smile on her face. She nodded, then they fell to a comfortable silence. 

***

The sign of Cafe Du Monde shined brightly from across the street, Zoey and Karma just had to wait for the light before they could cross. The light above the crossroads turned green and Zoey and Karma, and the small hoard that had formed, went across the street. 

Cafe Du Monde was a small place, though with the immense crowds they should look into more space soon. The restaurant’s signature dish was a Beignet, a baked pastry that was practically covered in powdered sugar. It made Zoey’s mouth water, and she felt a feeling of excitement course through her body. 

The girls managed to find a table, with bits of powdered sugar on the table and sat down. A waiter found them, and the girls ordered a half dozen beignets, shared between the two. They had a light conversation of the past, reminiscing about things that could never be. There was a break in the conversation, and Zoey let out a breathy laugh. 

“You know, I really don’t even remember how we became friends. It just seemed like you were always there in my memories.” Zoey breathed, and her face had a soft smile. 

All her memories of dance were filled with Karma, a wonderful person who seemed to make everyone else happy. People often noticed when she wasn’t there, and classmates would want to make sure she was okay, and when she would be returning. Even though Karma was quiet and reserved to herself most times, when she spoke everyone seemed to want to listen. She was just so kind, with the biggest heart ever. 

Zoey considered herself to be incredibly lucky to have her as a best friend, and she voiced such to Karma, which she laughed, and her eyebrows furrowed. 

“I think I remember how it went.” she whispered, “You were drinking water and I caught your eye, you walked over to me and asked me my name. I responded and you kept up a conversation, then you said your name was Zoey and the rest is history.” 

Tears were freely streaming down Zoey’s face, Karma huffed and held out a napkin. Zoey laughed and let out a weak thank you. Karma looked up from the table and looked right into Zoeys eyes. 

“No, thank you,” she whispered, both girls had tears on their cheeks. 

But that thank you held so much more, it held years of thank you’s that were unspoken. It was for every time they never left each other’s side. It was for embracing each other’s faults and adapting to each other’s needs. It was for every whispered secret that needed to be kept, and for every shoulder that was cried on. It was being the person who you could all your faith in. 

It was being there for each other, even when it felt like the world was against you. It was for being best friends, it for being a found sister. You can’t choose family, and you can’t change the past or dictate the future. But sometimes you find someone who will make it a bit brighter, sometimes you find family in the greatest of people.