I accidently swing open my car door with too much force. The heavy piece of metal rebounds back into me as I eagerly hop into the driver's seat. I take the soft, thin thread bracelet out of my hand and look at it. The blue flower beads complement the bright blue and white string perfectly. I scan around my wheel, trying to imagine where it would look best. I finally decide on the bottom left portion and tediously tie it around. The bracelet is just loose enough to where it can glide back and forth, but tight enough to where the beads are facing me without falling. I take my hands away and examine the final product. The three beads for me and my two best friends. Flashbacks from the night in which it was made flood into my mind. I’m still shocked my parents let us do that. Before I get out of my car, I look at the bracelet hanging around my steering wheel one last time, a smile forms on my face and I begin to laugh.

I hear the text notification ding go off on my phone. I immediately perk up and reach for it. It was my friend Lauren in the Besties group chat, she asks, “What if we hungout tonight instead?”. I become overwhelmed with happiness. It was the dead middle of summer and I was bored out of my mind. My two best friends had both been out of town on vacation during the same week, leaving me all alone in the static town of Bedford. Since Lauren was coming home that day, we were planning on letting her spend a night in her own house and just hang out later in the week. Since we hadn’t seen each other in so long, we needed to get together as soon as possible, and to our advantage none of us had plans that night.

After four short hours of sitting in my living room attempting to make bracelets, we realized we needed a break. One reason for this break was that it was hard to come up with visually appealing bracelet color schemes when we were quickly running out of colors. We decided that Walmart would be our best bet, mostly because it was the middle of the night and our options were limited. Although we had been snacking for the past few hours, we could not be out without getting food. I began to get excited for our little journey. I quickly run up to my parents bedroom, skipping stairs as I go. Understandably, both my mom and dad were sleeping. Their steady breath made them look so peaceful, for a second I second guessed waking them up. That second passed and my excitement was back. In my loud whisper I ask them if Quincy, Lauren, and I could make a quick stop to Walmart. While I wait for a response, I put my hands on my knees and try to catch my breath from my sprint through the house. Obviously too tired and out of it to comprehend what they were agreeing to, they said yes. We run to Quincy’s car and were on our way.

The way I looked at this point of time couldn’t have been more fitting for the environment. The area of Toledo we were in was definitely a questionable location and a bit scary. One glance at me and it was obvious I too looked questionable and a bit scary. It’s no secret that teenage girls like to “look comfortable” when they are hanging out with their friends, and that very well applied to me. I was wearing an old cheer shirt from years ago, so worn out the letters were starting to peel at the edges. I had on a pair of black nike shorts and a pair of tall black nike socks. With that, I threw on my grey Birkenstocks and a black string choker accompanied by a single green bead in the center. Why I felt the need to wear that necklace, I’m not sure. The green bead did not match my outfit in any way. My long brown hair was a tangled mess. Since I didn’t feel like brushing it, I quickly put it into a low whale bun. The mascara I had put on previously that day was now barely visible, well besides the numerous black flakes all around my eyes, which was no doubt due to my constant eye rubbing. Since this was before I got my Mountain Dew slushie, I was beyond tired. My under eye circles were a deep purple, and my bags prominent. Despite all of this, I was with my friends having too good of a time to care.

Lauren, Quincy, and I hop out of Quincy’s car. We see few other cars in the dark parking lot, only visible by the weak overhead lights. It’s completely quiet besides the whistling of the wind carrying a warm, humid breeze with it. We all huddle together as we quickly walk through the deserted lot. We then realize Walmart is not the best place for three 16 year-old girls to be in Toledo at 3:10 in the morning. We step through the entrance doors and oddly feel safer. I’m not sure why, though, because the inside of Walmart was just as debatable as the outside. A random radio channel was on, playing pop music softly throughout the store. There were a few people in sight, mostly workers, minding their own business and doing their own things. Everything was calm and quiet, well, except for my friends and I. Us, being teenage girls, were extremely slap happy and were accidently being very obnoxious. It was obvious the workers were secretly hoping we’d walk out of the store any second, but that was not the case for us. My friends and I were on a mission and we were not leaving until we had what we needed.

After messing around in Walmart for a fair amount of time, we located several packs of thread. After several debates, we decide not to buy it; however, we do each decide to buy a mini painting kit. All three canvases with outlines of different animals. We make our purchases and cautiously make our way through Walmart’s parking lot once more. By this time, all of us were starving. The hollow pit in my stomach was now murmuring. We quickly look on google to see the closest food places to us that were still open. Again, our options were quite limited, Taco Bell and Speedway slushies it was! First, the gas station. Noticeable from the outside, this rest stop was much smaller than the average. It also was not the nicest one I had ever seen. Due to that, I half expected there to be few flavors and even fewer that actually worked. When I stepped in that Speedway, I became aware of how wrong I was. A wall of 8 plus flavors were displayed beautifully, and even more shocking, all of the flavors were in use! From the typical Wild Cherry and Blue Raspberry to Watermelon Sour Patch Kids and Orange Creamsicle. I scan the wall for cups, and quickly find them. I grab the second largest size and fill it to the brim. We then hop in the Taco Bell drive-through and pick up our food, which concludes our little middle of the night journey.

We ended up painting, laughing, and drinking our caffeinated slushies all night. Our fun continued to breakfast the next morning, when we went one of our favorite coffee shops at 7. While cleaning our gigantic mess later that day, I realize how much fun I had with my two best friends that night. Without them, I know my life would be much harder. When they left me for just a week, I was beyond bored. Later that day I also realized I only finished making one bracelet, even though that’s what we were planning on doing the entire time. That one bracelet is the one I tied around my car's steering wheel. Everytime I see it, it reminds me how lucky I am to have a good group of people to have in my life. That small bracelet represents the strong bond between Quincy, Lauren, and I. Even when life takes unexpected turns, like that night, we will always stick together. I know I will always be able to count on them, and in today’s constantly changing society, that means a lot.