I faintly remember this guy and it’s weird that I still run a search on social networking sites to find him. To add to my bad luck his name is not as unique as mine. I get a hundred or more search results for his name. He was the first one to have formally proposed me with those three magical words. I was in third grade and a tiny little girl of eight years. For the second time my heart went numb when he held my hand in the middle of a lecture and said it.
“I love you”
That was it. I made a face like Sushmita Sen when she won the beauty pageant. One of those agape mouthed dazed looks. The teacher saw us talking and shouted at him. I was the brighter one so got saved most of the times. It still remains one of the most romantic episodes of my life.
I can still picture him walking hand in hand with me in the play ground. I can still hear him say “Can’t a girl and a boy be friends? My friends tease me because I roam about with you”.
I clearly remember how confident I sounded when I replied to that.
“Of course, a girl and a boy can be friends. Forget what they say. Let’s go play on the swings with others. You can be the Cop again with the other guys or the Ghost.”
He was relieved and held my hand tight and said “Yeah! Let’s go play.”
He fought with me, hit me and ran after me to catch me all the time. I still adored him.
His friends teased us and threatened that he would let out our secret. He was afraid that his “guy” image would be tarnished so he would vent it out by chasing me off most off of the times. The other times he just loved me. It was a blissful adventure back then.
I was sad when his father got transferred and he had to leave school. I still remember the young lad that he was. Bushy eyebrows. Sharp nose. Perfectly shaped lips. He had always been a little taller than I was. He just left. I never realized he was gone. As kids, it never bothered us that we must stay in touch. At least back then it didn’t matter much. I missed him for a few days and a few more maybe.
After he left, there was this other boy in my tiny little world. I can’t find him too. His name is pretty common again. He was my desk partner in school. I once told him that I had loose motions and it felt sick. I thought he would keep it a secret. I trusted him. He went and told the entire world. Everyone laughed at me.
I still remember flashes from the day when he too was leaving. We were all standing outside the classroom with him and his mother. We laughed at what would happen if the fat kid fell over one of us .
We made the best team when it came to playing sports. We spoke a lot with each other. We were true partners but alas! He left too. He was as thin as me and had a tiny face like mine. That is all I remember of him. Somehow, I never realized that he was gone too.
As children it didn’t bother us much that who came or left. The best part about that little phase of my life is that I never forgot what we shared – Friendship. I still adore you my boys and hopefully shall meet you again someday.
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