My Best Friends
- April 26th, 2010
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Almost everyday, we meet new people, we make new friends; but in a person’s lifetime, he could only count his best friends with his two hands – that’s in my opinion. Some people even spend their lifetime having met only one best friend, some have none at all.
In my life of 21 years, I have had a hundreds or maybe thousands of acquaintances, friends and close friends. Some of who have turned into enemies, and some were just left somewhere in my journey.
Before I went to sleep this morning, while lying on my bed, my mind flashed back to these people who have gone far beyond being just a mere classmate, officemate, or a friend… far more than just being a close friend.
These were my best friends:
Sundae
My very first best friend. We met when we were in Grade 1. He was a very quiet boy and I was one of the naughtiest in the class (but FYI, I was an honor student.. hehehehe).. Aside from the honors list, I was always on the list of noisy students on the black board, too, so I was the only honor student to sit on the fourth row and Sundae was always in the first row with the goody-two-shoes kids. I can’t remember how we got along, but we just did. We shared chocolate bars during breaks (and during classes) and I was always invited to their house for lunch. One weekend, I invited him to my house to play but he was bitten by my dog on the ass. It was terrible bite, but he was never mad at me for it. We also never missed singing carols at every house during Christmas to earn money and buy lots of candies. We finally had to part when my parents made me transfer to a private school. We still hung out occasionally until the time that my family had to move to a far city. A few months ago, I added him on Friendster and sent him messages asking how he was, but he never answered. Despite his lack of interest in keeping in touch, I still and will always remember him as that quiet kid that I shared good times with.
Ana Therese
Grade 3… It was my first time to study in a private school. Everyone was different. Kids were clean and groomed, and a bit more bratty than my classmates in the public school. The teachers didn’t sell food inside the classroom. Then I met Ana. She was a boyish chinita girl whom I seemed to share ineterests with. In no time, we knew we were best friends. We got caught by the teacher several times, exchanging answers for our Math quizzes. She also sold me all her story books and coloring pens for 1 peso each. Each costed 35 pesos when I checked at National Bookstore. She also gave me a beautiful sticker set that she bought from a nearby mall. She never let anybody touch her stickers except me. She always defended me from bullies at school and the most memorable was this one time when the two of us fought over something really petty and I punched her at her arm so hard that it turned purple. Then there was this squealer from the higher grade who reported me to the Principal’s office for boxing my friend. When we were both sent to the Principal’s office, Ana lied to the Principal, saying that she just bumped into something and it was not because of me. 3 years after we parted, I called her home number to check if her family still lived in the same house. When she answered the phone, we were so thrilled and we decided to meet at their house and catch up on things. We were so happy to have met after such a long time. We exchanged numbers before I went home and we continued texting each other until she ran from home and changed her number. We bumped into each other a few years after and she has growned into a gorgeous and liberated woman. Much has changed between the two of us but I will never forget how close we were when we were kids.
Van
Grade 5… I was a new student at the University of Perpetual Help GMA, Cavite Campus. I didn’t have a lot of friends in the class and there was this girl with a foreign blood, Hawaiki, who was my enemy #1. She was also the leader of the snob team in the class. I was a kid with a very strong personality so I was always in a word war with this huge girl. Van was one of her friends. At the beginning, Van seemed to hate me for no reason. If the class needs bond papers for an activity, he would give bond papers to everyone except me and he would always try to twist and break my arm when he felt annoyed with me. I don’t remember how we started getting along but I just found myself being friends with him. We kept talking everyday at school and we would text each other through my sister’s phone evry once in a while (because 1 text = 1 peso.. expensive! there was no unlitext back then.. hehehe). We found out that we were born the exact same day, April 16, 1988. What a coincidence! One afternoon, while our classmates were playing “tamaang bola” in the school grounds during our P.E. subject, Van and I were sitting on the grass and talking. Out of nowhere, he asked me if I can be his best friend. Of course I said “yes” because we were like siblings already, and you can rarely find a best friend who was born on the exact same day! I remember him giving me a blank diary as a gift that he bough from a famous gift shop near our school. I can’t remember what I gave him in return, but until today, I still have that diary in my drawer, filled with my thoughts and secrets. He was the only person I allowed to read my notes on the diary. We always shared food and exchanged gifts even without any occasion. He also had the loudest cheer when I joined singing contests at school. He was a very caring best friend because when I ran away from home, my parents went to his house to see if I was there and he was so worried when he knew about what happened. After my parents went home, he was texting my parents, asking if I went home already or of they’ve already found me. We were the very best that friends could be, until the time when I decided to change. I changed the way I wore clothes and the way I acted. I started going out with a new set of friends. I enjoyed hanging out with them so much that I forgot about my old friends, including Van. He was saddened by the fact that we no longer had time together anymore even just to talk for a bit and ask each other what’s up. He asked our common friend to talk to me about it. Then I realized that I was losing such a precious part of me, my best friend. I talked to him to try to fix the bridge between the two of us but things were no longer the same. We still considered each other as best friend, but we were no longer as compassionate. Our family had to move again to another city. Since then, I never saw him again. A year after we left Cavite, I went back to see Van in my former school but he was still in class and so we didn’t really get to talk. 3 years after we parted, he called me on my cellphone on our birthday so we can greet each other on that special day. I didn’t know what was wrong with me but I was cold, and I know that I might have hurt him by being so. I had a lot of regrets that made me lose the bestest best friend I ever had but until today, despite the distance and the lack of time, that special place in my heart remains his.
Junn
We became classmates when we were Sophomores in high school. I was vied as the Mayor of the class because I was assigned as the temporary Mayor by our class adviser when classes started because of my authoritative personality. Then came Junn, who was a quiet and smart guy who came from another class when we were Freshmen. He was my competition in becoming the Mayor, and in hitting the top spot in the class honors’ list. I was so fierce that I often raised my voice to maintain order in the class. When the elections came, he was voted as the Mayor of the class and I became the Vice Mayor. I was so bitter about him being the Mayor that I didn’t give him any respect as the Mayor. I often tried to overpower him but he was just very patient with my attitude and he just let me do what I want. There was one thing, though, where he never was on top of me – grades. I was at the top of the honors’ list the whole year and I didn’t let him be even an inch near my grades. However, towards the end of the school year, I was placed by the teacher in a seat in the middle of the slackers in the class. Later, I became friends with them and I started losing enthusiasm in studying. Although I still ended up at #1 at the end of the year, Junn became just a blink away from overtaking me. Throughout the year, we talked casually and joked but I didn’t consider him as a close friend or anything like that. He was just so patient that even if I would yell at him in front of other people, he would brush it off and not even think of revenge. He was not as patient with other people, though, because we were shocked when he stabbed his seatmate on the face with a pen. As time passed by, we became less like rivals and more like friends and my bitterness towards him and our rivalry turned into friendship. At 3rd year, we were separated because I was transferred to another section, but we kept chatting at the balcony during breaks, talking about anything – bullies, crushes, quizzes. When we became Seniors, we became classmates again. The rivalry was gone and we were just plain best friends. Today, I am still updated about how he’s doing and his current relationships, and he didn’t want to attend reunions unless I was there. We didn’t really do thoughtful things for each other to make us best friends. We just understood each other deeper that other people did. We didn’t hang out a lot but in our hearts, we knew we were best friends.
I am dumb with names and events, but not with best friends. I might not remember the smallest detail but I remember a lot, especially the moments that have touched me. In my lifetime of 21 years, these 5 people have given me enough reason to be happy at different times in my life. How deep or shallow the reason is of why they became my best friends doesn’t matter. What’s important is, at that specific point in my life spent with them, they were the people who have made me happy the most.
As a person grows older, it gets harder to find a true friend, and I am happy and proud to have come accross these people, whom I’ve shared special memories with. The feeling might no longer be mutual like it used to be but it doesn’t matter to me. These names and memories are things that I will never forget until the day that I forget my name.
