Ethan and Lila met on a crisp autumn day in their quiet hometown of Cedarvale. They were six years old. Ethan had just moved to the neighborhood with his family, and Lila was the curious girl next door who wandered into his backyard to investigate.
"Hi, I'm Lila," she said, her golden hair tied into two uneven pigtails. She held out a hand, sticky from the caramel apple she was munching on.
Ethan hesitated but eventually shook her hand. "I'm Ethan."
From that moment, they were inseparable. They built treehouses, hunted imaginary monsters, and created secret codes that no one else could decipher. Their friendship was effortless, a bond as natural as breathing.