Friendship is like love. It takes two people, a connection, and complete honesty.

Finding a good friend is like dating. You hang out. You try for a connection. If it’s there, you move on. If it’s not, you stop.

But unlike dating, you sometimes keep the friends that failed to win your heart. Each of them operates on a different level with you. Each of them stops at a different layer.

There are the acquaintances, whom you see at school and smile. You talk about classes, teachers, maybe the new movie that’s coming out. Acquaintances are just for show. Casual flirts. Fun in numbers.

There are social friends, the group of people you hang out with outside of school. They can be casual or they can be deep. They are there to have a good time. To avoid loneliness. And even if you don’t care as much for some of them, experiencing new things with a group is always stimulating.

There are good friends, the people that you can rely on, the people who will listen. They have peeled your layers down close to the core. But sometimes, good friends might try, but won’t understand. You go deeper, but it stops. It’s not anyone’s fault. Like love, sometimes, things are just innate.

Then there are best friends, lifetime friends, the friends you truly love. Because love is a strong word. Because to love a friend is to care about her just as much as you do yourself, and that’s life’s hardest thing.

Best friends are the people you want to travel the world with. You want to see them grow at different stages of life. And unlike other friends, they see the core, and the layers, and the binding of the layers, and accept it all.

They don’t judge, but listen. They don’t analyze, but understand. They will put everything down when you need them the most; they will come over just so you have a shoulder to cry on.

These are the friends that matter the most. You can give up all the others just for one. Because a best friend operates on all the layers. Because finding one is all anybody could hope for.

You can show your vulnerability, your lies, your tears, your self-deceits, and they will listen and share the same. Best friends are the ones you let read your old diaries. The ones with a single glance, understand exactly how you feel.

Intimacy is a scary thing. Vulnerability, honesty, the same. But with a best friend, sharing is comfort. Weakness is human.

Friendship is like love. It takes two people, a connection, and complete honesty.

To my best friend.