Do you ever catch yourself under-appreciating something? It's kind of sad but inevitable. Forgetting to recognize something or someone that makes your life easier or better somehow. Like my best friend.

I've known her since the fourth grade and we've been good friends since then. I can't imagine my life without her. And I'm sure I thought that in fourth and fifth grade, but I never truly meant it until the next year.

Now I'm not going to go into that year, so if you're wondering about it, you can ask me, but I will say She helped me out. Since the sixth grade, I have not had a panic attack or cried or been hurt in a game without her knowing or without her perfectly placed (that is to say, perfect height) shoulder being there.

I cried today. In the middle of basketball practice. We were running on the track and I just ran down the stairs into the bathroom and cried. I can't tell you how long I was in there, but I don't think it was too long. It was long enough that my eyelids were bright red and the ever-present dark circles under my eyes grew darker (the only upside to crying is that it really makes my blue eyes pop).

When I finished and went back to practice, finally under control, She apologized. "I'm sorry," she said, "I kind of thought... but I didn't go. I'm sorry."

She didn't need to apologize. She doesn't need to apologize. But she did. I didn't ask her to come after me. If She'd seen, though, she would have.

She's my best friend, and I couldn't imagine my life without her. She apoligized, and I found myself appreciating her all over again, as I always do.