CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

Friendship is incredibly important for teenagers. Teen friends give young people a sense of security and belonging. We all love our time which we spent with our friends talking and playing. In this chapter, I would like to share my memories with my childhood friend whose name was Ann.

I was the first girl child in my family. So I was pampered (especially by my grand mom) a lot when I was young. I was a spoiled child. Even when I did something naughty, I didn't get much scoldings. So I was a trouble maker.

One day my grandmother decided to make a visit in the neighbourhood and I tagged along. That was the first time I met Ann. Now that I think about it, back then she was a very mature child. We both had different backgrounds. So she had a steady upbringing that me. Even when I was a child, I was very talkative, so we became friends quickly. From that day on, I went to her house everyday to play with her. Even when were playing , if she was called by her grandparents or parents to do something she would immediately leave me to complete the work given to her. For me ( in the eyes of a child), she was someone awesome. I wanted to be like her. I also started helping others at home. My ultimate goal was to be like her. She unconsciously helped me a lot to mould me into the person I am now and I am very grateful to her for that.

Years passed, I learned all household chores except cooking ( even now I am lazy to learn cooking. She can cook curry and all). I was happy since I was able to keep up with her. Our bond strengthened by the time we reached high school. We both studied in two different schools and since we had a lot to study we stopped meeting each other on weekdays. But when we met on Saturdays and Sundays , we would tell each other what happened during the past week ( even the tiniest thing). But she slowly began to change. She got her first love when we were in highschool. As her friend, I accepted it ( since we all know about the things caused by the stupid hormonal change). But when she told me about it , I asked her to promise me something. So we made a deal that we both can fall in love 3 times and if the 3 of them are failures,we won't fall in love again. She accepted it. But since she was in love ,there were some side effects. She always talked about him ( about how good looking and all he was, about how nice he was- in short so many useless information ). Sometimes, I got irritated but since I accepted it I endured her talks about him and stayed silent. And after some time, they broke up( I actually wanted to put up a firework show but I was a student with no money ). I was happy and our conversations became back to normal ( about our daily lives). I was very satisfied with that.

But , then came the second one . I didn't know that , in the future, he would change our life upside down. If I had known then , I would had prevented him from coming near us. He was like a thorn in our life and the thorn's name was Jin. He was older than us. Jin and Ann went to the same school. But they were in different buildings. The highschool and higher secondary \( 11 & 12\) students had different buildings and neither the students in highschool or higher secondary had the permission to visit each other's building. They met each other during the sports meet \( Extra curricular activities were held together for high school and higher secondary students\). After the sports meet, they started talking with each other. Their homes' were in the same direction. So after school they walked home together . Ann's home was near the school\( 15 minutes walk\). So they both talked for 15 minutes on weekdays\( Its a lot of time, in my opinion \).

Special classes started for me on Saturdays. So I was only able to talk with Ann on Sundays on our way home after the Holy Mass. But my time with Ann was stolen from me. Jin ( the biggest idiot ever born) also came to the same Holy Mass as us and after the Holy Mass we walked with us on the way home. He talked with her on our way and for the first few Sundays I didn't say anything but later on I was not able to tolerate his irritating behaviour. I told Ann to tell Jin not to walk with us on Sundays. But she didn't take any action and it continued again and again. I understood that there was no use if I told something to Ann about Jin . So I stopped bothering her with talks related to Jin. My time with Ann decreased.

One day the same drama was going on ( I am not the third party , that stupid is). I was walking silently along with Jin And Ann and in between their conversation he asked Ann whether she completed his notes or not. At that time , I learned that she was writing Jin's notes for him for a few weeks. I got angry at both of them . I told Jin to complete his own notes and that Ann had her own notes and studies to deal with. I was more angry with Ann for hiding things from me. I told her not to do things like this again and that he was using her. She didn't tell me anything. Later, when I calmed down she told me that completing his notes were not bothersome for her and told me not to make it a big problem. She also told me that she didn't tell me about her writing notes for him because she knew that I would react like this. I didn't say anything after hearing all that.

This continued . On most Sundays , when I was with her, he asked her about his notes ( he was doing it on purpose. I know it ). After experiencing his irritating behaviour , I was not able to keep my head cool when I was with Ann. The conversations between Ann and me again shortened . Even when we conversations , we quarrelled with each other because of Jin. Finally , we stopped talked with each other. We both didn't try to fix it. Our ego didn't allow us .

Months passed, and I learned from some one that they broke up. I was happy for her since she won't be used anymore. I was also sad because it was too late to mend our friendship and even if we both tried we won't be comfortable with each other like in the past. If we try to fix a broken vase it won't be as perfect as it was before breaking.

Time passed.In between that our families asked us the reason why we were not talking with each other. We both never opened our mouths to tell the reason infront of them. Our years of friendship was broken because of single person's influence on us for a few months. Now, when we meet ( we are neighbours after all) we talk with each other but I can feel that an imaginary wall standing in between us. We are not able to open up with each other like in the past. I regret it now. I should had talked with her with a cool head. If we tried to have a proper conversation in the past , I believe that the situation might have been a bit different now.

So guys , treasure your best buddies who are important to you. I think I now understand the meaning of the saying "Think before you leap".

Thank you for reading

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