Lucas took a deep breath and looked around at the others. He turned his head and saw they were in far worse shape than he was. Both the steep climb and the incline had left them pretty exhausted. It had taken them a while to reach the top; their lack of physical exercise made the journey longer than it should have been. But they made it. By the time everyone else reached the summit, Lucas was already gazing out at the horizon.

And there, together at last, they all looked out over the vast valley stretching beneath their feet.

Each of them, as usual, was lost in their own thoughts—some thinking about the future, others about girls, and some about nothing at all.

They thought nothing would change, that no one would change, that no one would leave. And, of course, they were entirely wrong on all three counts.

It was at that moment that I—if no one else—began to understand certain things and, naturally, to try to learn from them. And to live with them.