my first best friend was in primary 1.. and although i never forget how she looked like, i've forgotten her name. she had chicken pox and didn't turn up to school for the first two weeks and by then, us kids had already formed little groups. she came back with some chicken pox scars and no one really wanted to befriend her, but i did. she had straight short black hair , just touching her shoulders and blunt bangs, wore red glasses and braces. we were best friends for two years until she transferred schools. we wrote letters but i didn't keep to it and hers stopped too after some time.
didn't have another bestie after that because all the girls in my class were really close. it was nice :) after primary 3, even the boys in the class were united with us. we all played together after school and recess and there wasn't any of those school children petty conflicts. helped that i was head girl (do not laugh, i was a good kid) and that made me pretty popular. in primary 5, i had a new bestie. Xiu fen, she had a bit of a slur because her upper lip hardly moved when she talked. we took taekwondo together and lived just a couple of blocks apart. met regularly even when we went to different schools. notice the past tense? Well a guy named Hong Tat came between us, one year our senior. She liked him, he liked me and I didn't care for boys. It was terrible because he had been calling me regularly and though i tried to keep things simple and tried to direct conversation to the topic of my best friend, he didn't quite budge. Then his loud mouthed friend told her at one of our taekwondo classes. Needless to say, I thrashed the hell out of the above mentioned friend, Michael, during a sparring session that day. Xiu fen didn't speak to me again and I didn't try either. Coz anyone who put more importance in a boy I didn't even like or like her either was not worth my time.
Secondary school was a breeze. I didn't need best friends there. I had Yeti outside of school. In school, I got along relatively well with a couple of people. Danny, Sam, Jie and Derrick. Hui Ee in band. Hidayah outside. Band life pretty much consumed me. And in poly, I had Timmy. Timmy was great for the entire year, such a great hangout buddy. Until he asked me out after we graduated and I assumed it was just another one of our hangout sessions. After our lunch and a movie, he took me for a walk and tried to hold hands.. That was it, ruined.. I told him I wasn't into dating and he didn't speak to me all the way home. Slowly but surely, we drifted apart. I really wasn't into boys, I knew relationships were messy and I wanted to avoid all that. I enjoyed being by myself . I tried keeping in touch with Tee but it never got back to the way we were before.
And then there is my sec school band mates, RB7. Never really thought of them as best friends. We were all friends in band and we were literally banded by one road incident by chance, but I didn't really belong with the 4 girls or the 2 guys. I was closest with Danny though :) The girls kinda left me out, they had sleepovers which I wasn't invited to. But it was cool with me. But through the years they've become an important part of my life, all of them. I see each individual and appreciate their strengths and overlook their weaknesses and I know they do the same with me. It's beyond friendship, it's family. 12 years on, we're still good friends. I don't know everything about them and sometimes commitments in jobs, studies, life and other relationships make us meet up less often then we'd like to but it's always great when we do. And I hope this friendship stays strong forever because I'm proud to be friends with each and everyone one of them.
So Yeti, RB7 - my besties.. But two more people have made my life complete. My sister, Narin, and my fiance, Nithin. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful sister and fiance whom I can share with. They're my support system. I don't have many close friends, but this bunch fill my life. My best friends :)
But everyday, I realize it's closer to the day that I have to move away. Leave singapore. And I wonder if our friendships will remain the same. And a little sadness creeps in., okay fine a lot.. I try to convince myself that distance won't make a difference in this age where technology connects us. And then I remember the times when I sail. We hardly keep in touch except for my sister and Yeti and of course Nithin. Will this friendship be like my primary school bestie, fade through time? I guess i can only hope and wait to see.
--
