A Teens Unlikely Friendship Blossoms in Philly: A Coming of Age Story of Love and Support Hi, my name is Lena. I am 16 years old now, but this is the story of a very special friendship that I had when I was younger. It was a Saturday morning in June. I was on my way to my friend Kaila's house. I had met her when I was six years old at my day care, Old Pine Community Center. I had just moved to Philadelphia from Woodstock, New York. Being in a new place and not knowing anyone, I was very shy. One day after my parents dropped me off, Kaila walked over to the corner where I was playing with my pony figurines. When I first saw her, I didn't think much of her. She was a pale little girl with big brown eyes and straight dirty blonde hair that hung a few inches from her shoulders. "Hi, I'm Kaila, want to be friends?" She said to me in that sweet high pitched voice of hers. I looked up from my toys to see her bright big smile and cute little freckles looking down at me. I said yes and our friendship began. For the next few years we were inseparable. Almost every weekend, we went over one another's houses. We did everything together. On this day, I was nine years old and on my way to Kaila's house. My mom and I were talking about something, I can't really remember what it was though. We pulled into Kaila's driveway. I quickly kissed my mom goodbye and skipped towards the front door. I only knocked once when Kaila swung the door open. She looked adorable in her black leggings and horse t-shirt. Without any warning, she jumped on me with a huge hug, knocking both of us to the floor. We both looked at each other and starting laughing. "Wow, thanks for the warning" I said. "A warning would have taken all of the fun out of tackling you." She said as she continued to laugh. I poked her side and started tickling her, when Kaila's mom came and saw us playing in the doorway. She started laughing too as she watched us roll around on the floor. "Come on you guys, get in the house. …the next moment changed everything
