Friend (n.)

I laughed as he jested. My preconceptions were confirmed. Only they would talk to me.

Does that label them as friends? Perhaps, but then why does the thought of parting somewhat worry me?

"They've learned because they'll be here for a while, but it's not really worth teaching you since you'll only be here for two months."

Two months... isn't a long time. But I shouldn't care. I shouldn't.

Or at least, I should not feel, for if we were truly friends, and not just acquaintances, our thoughts would reach each other despite the distance.

Perhaps that is why friendship is so wonderful. It is the reassurance that the bonds formed will not disappear. It is the knowledge that people can and will endure past a simple goodbye.

So maybe that's it. It's not that we are not friends, or cannot be friends. It is that incapability to endure past that which prevents us from remaining so after the proposed time has been called.

This kindness, I'll treasure it now. This effort to befriend me, I'll remember.

They are friends. Though only time can tell who they will be in the end.