Having Carla as your girlfriend is every bit as exciting as it was when you first got together. She's still funny and irreverent and rebellious and spontaneous, and you love that about her.
You're going to be separated from Carla next year, though; you're going off to college and she's staying in Kingsport. "College ain't for me, babe," she said, the one time you brought it up with her. Was that a painful thing for her to have to say? Maybe. But even after all this time, Carla closed right up after saying that, and started making jokes about something else instead.
You guess she's got a point. Her family's even less well-off than yours, and Carla spent more time in detention at Kingsport High than she did in class. When she even bothered to go to detention, that is. But that conversation showed how different you and Carla are, and reminded you of how much you'll miss her when you're apart.
Will it ever be the same?
And in the meantime, you're still friends with Alison, just as you have been since kindergarten.
One last personal question. What's your gender?