97

by: Hana Elleonora

My high school life was really fun and enjoyable. I was a clever girl who never failed any subject. I study hard and try my best to get the best score. Even though, I had a friend – a very special one, he is more than just a best friend – named Lee.

It is always a great feeling when you have a best friend. To talk to, to care for you, and to grow with. But sadly, there is always the common circumstance of losing that best friend. That's just life and it is very possible to go your separate ways. Yes, it might not happen, but there's still always the fear of losing a close friend that you hold, dear.

About five years ago, I met my best friend. Lee and I were inseparable. We were a duo. As we got older, we got more distant, but that doesn't mean we aren't best friends. We argue, but that doesn't mean we aren't best friends. Just because we have other friends doesn't mean we aren't best friends. It's kind of a cycle, if you think about it. Organized chaos. Some friends come, some friends go. Some stay, some don't. It's all a matter of chance.

Everybody has a different life, a different family, and different responsibilities and that is respected. Lee and I have gone through tough times. We have matured together, cried together, laughed together. Every day, there are so many different ways it could start and so many different ways it could end. It all depends on who's starting and ending that day.

It was a windy summer when I want to visit Lee’s house and I got shocked by the commercial plank tacked right at his door. His house was on sale. Lee was leaving at our last semester on high school – Fukuoka, 1997 – Lee failed in exam. He did not come to the graduation day. Since we never meet each other, he just disappeared.

As I was saying, loving and losing is very common in a lifetime. No matter what, there will be change, but change is not always bad. The next five years, I went to Sapporo for some business matters. I – at that time was a journalist – want to write about Hokkaido’s economic upswing, so I need to interview the entrepreneurs and president director. One of my interviewee was named Edward Lee.

He did not recognize me at first. Once I asked about his childhood and what did he do in his past, he remember me – Kira, a very best friend in high school. We were having a blissful moment since we have not meet for years. He told me everything. He quit his school and migrated to Hokkaido and began to started his first career as a salesman at his uncle’s company.

He said that when life is getting hard and you can not control, just look around and step forward to the other one. Everybody’s has his/her own success. Everything stays right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes. Every so slightly, daily and nightly. In little ways, everything stays.