best friends Indi and Riley
Photography by Brent Goldsmith

These Best Friends Love Dance, Animals, Life

Indi and Riley want to be vets and live in a blue house

Indi and Riley have been best friends for two years, when Riley moved a one-minute walk away from Indi’s house. They had known each other from dance, but once they started carpooling to their jazz, tap and ballet classes, “that was it” according to Riley, and they’ve hung out “every single day” since January. Now their younger sisters and parents are friends, too. “We brought them together,” says Indi. “This is the order,” says Riley, seriously, counting off pairs on her hand: “Me and Indi are the closest, then it’s probably our dads, then our sisters and moms are about the same.”

When the girls grow up, they want to live together in a blue house and be vets. “I love animals,” says Indi. “Just the thought of animals being sick makes me want to do something about that.” (Both girls worry about a scrawny orange cat in their neighbourhood.) Indi has a hedgehog named Nutella (with her own Instagram) and a dog, Bisou, who’s almost 12: “In human years, she’s older than my oldest grandparent.” “Not my oldest grandparent, though,” says Riley, who says she has a 107-year-old grandmother. Riley also has Bean, a tabby kitten. “I always call her Beanie Boo. My mom once called her Baked Bean!” Indi calls her Jelly Bean.

Indi girls of the future
Indi: “I love animals! Just the thought of an animal being sick makes me want to do something about it.”

At 10, they have the kind of friendship where they hold hands and absentmindedly grab each other’s hair. They have inside jokes, too, like “Butterstick” about the time Riley bit into a huge chunk of butter thinking it was a cookie (“I said ‘Yuck’ so loud!”), which make them laugh hysterically. They believe that “kindness and laughter” are the most important things in a friend. “We have that together,” says Indi.

Pop culture filters in, but doesn’t dominate. They love dance, performing and TikTok. They aren’t fussed about fashion (Indi: “I dress pretty simply: crop tops and jean shorts”; Riley: “I mostly just pick random stuff.”) They both say their heroes are their moms.

Riley: “I like to bake cakes—mug cakes.”

Indi (thoughtful): “Those are fun except they don’t always taste the best.”

Riley: “I made one at a birthday party one time and it tasted bad.” (Wide-eyed) “I forgot to add egg.”

Indi: “Mine tasted too much like egg.”

Riley girls of the future
Riley: “Women should have had rights from the first time they were on Earth.”

Because of COVID, they’re more aware of the world outside their world. They mention fear of fires and robbers, dreams of “world peace” and “no more wars.” Indi did her fifth-grade expo on pesticides in agriculture. On the subject of feminism, they agree that, as Riley puts it, “Women should have had rights from the first time that women were on Earth.” Boys are “gross” but only when they’re young, because as Indi points out, their dads aren’t.

They’re excited and nervous for the coming school year. Riley is going to back to school with a new pencil case and backpack and Indi will be doing remote learning on a computer her grandmother is buying her. They’ll still hang out all the time, though. As Riley says, leaning close to her friend, “I’ll go over to Indi’s every day and say, ‘Helllllooo, are you here?” And they fall over each other, laughing.

On Indi: Gucci jacket, VSP Consignment. Vintage shirt (stylist’s own). On Riley: Comme des Garçons Play shirt (stylist’s own). Vintage bandana (stylist’s own). Jeans, Value Village. Photography by Brent Goldsmith. Styling by Jackie McKeown. Hair by Caroline Levin/P1M

 

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