the loveliest girl in the world is my best friend
and that basically makes me the universe's favourite child.
This is a fangirl post for my childhood best friend, S.
I was one of the quietest kids in kindergarten. I have done more than one show-and-tell event where mom dressed me up great and I spoke zilch. Just stood in front of the mic and prayed hard for the misery to end because why does anyone want to make a kid speak in front of a crowd? Weird. Just have events involving endless Lego bricks and the freedom to make whatever. I get that it’s a choking hazard but so is forcing kids like me to speak to a crowd.
So yes, major introvert. Making friends was hard. I always just picked one girl in the class, hoped we would hit it off and then called it a day. It usually worked so well that even the teachers knew I was attached to the hip to whoever the girl happened to be in that specific class.
We had a re-org of sorts when I entered 1st grade (age 6) and only a few of us were put in different sections. Imagine how that would’ve gone for me, the most socially anxious kid on the block, because I was one of the few.
Then, she walked in. S. Little did I know the naughtiest girl, a polar opposite to the perpetually nervous wreck that was me, would become my best friend.
S was new to the school, and she’d spent a week in another section before being shifted to mine. Similar, because I’d also spent a week in another section before being hauled off to this one. We were both thinking “yikes, why am I being separated from the few friends I’d made?”
I can’t recall much details about how we started chatting with each other, but I assume it was because of S. She’s always been so approachable, so good at just being herself that you can’t help but want to be around her. It is very likely that she said hi to me first, and if you’ve ever had trouble making friends, you’d know how good a first move feels. The rest is history.
We spent 3 years in the same section. Me being the introverted and slightly angry kid and her being the naughty, chirpy and fun kid. The kind who annoys you into having fun and then there’s no looking back.
I actually don’t remember being annoyed at S, ever. Just random unprovoked anger maybe — which she always laughed off, which made me laugh it off as well. Why was I so serious as a child? Whatever, I am about to have enough fun in my remaining time on Earth to undo just that.
We quickly became inseparable. Spent birthdays together, lunch breaks together, did every possible thing together. S tells me that when we were kids, she always asked her mom why I lived so far from her. You see, her twin’s best friend lived in the same apartment complex. Then why were WE subjected to this unfairness? Don’t we also deserve unlimited playtime and a distance of 10 steps away from each other?
Even after we weren’t in the same section, we managed to be great friends which is not easy at the age of 9, when you’re not in the same classroom, or in the same bus. S still has our photos from her birthdays, and I think that’s going to be one of the first photo frames on the wall when I get my own place.
S moved the year we turned 11. I was really upset, but I didn’t know what to do. Phones were not smart, and social media was a thing for adults. It wasn’t normal to call up your friends and just chat endlessly back then. But I just wished that S is happy wherever she is, and that I get to see her soon.
Cut to idk, teenage? Whenever we got access to smartphones and subsequently, social media? The year is hard to pin, but we eventually got in touch somehow. Caught up on our school lives, but the plans to meet up were still distant. We continued to be the same — me, the shy angsty girl and her, the most cheerful ball of sunshine with a twinkle in her eyes.
They (Shah Rukh Khan) say that if you wish for something from the bottom of your heart and the depth of your soul, the universe conspires in your favour. Well, I think S and I manifested so hard that now we’re back to the same town.
We met in 2022, after a whole DECADE. And it was exactly the way you’d expect it to go — it felt like she’d never left. My best friend was back and it was the best thing that had happened to me in a long, long time.
After that I moved twice, we met a few times whenever we could. Just caught up on life, spent our meals talking. We’ve still not spent a whole day together, but every single time we met, it felt like we’re 6 again.
S and I have seen each other grow. Maybe not in real time, but in our infrequent catch ups and reminders of how easy life used to be when we first met. We couldn’t be each other’s first call on happy and sad days, but my friendship with S tells me that a piece of your best friend lives in you irrespective of geography or life stage.
Now that we’re both back to town, for real this time, I have been able to keep in touch with her a lot more. A meal with her is a series of deep talks, funny things that happened this week and making plans for the future. The good part about being an adult is that now we can actually act on these plans.
17 years later, S continues to be my rock. We have changed, and yet remained the same. Her zest for life and clarity about what truly matters is incredibly grounding, and more than that, inspiring.
She continues to be my biggest cheerleader, the girl who sees me the most clearly and loves my every flaw as if it’s a feature. She has consistently written to me about every edition of every newsletter I have published to tell me that I must keep doing this because she loves to read what I have to say.
S reminded me today of how much she believes in me, and I felt overwhelmed with love. She reminded me of what truly matters, and made me see my fears in a completely different light. S is the kind of person who would rather have a great story to tell than a mountain of untouched wealth. Her excitement for everything has rubbed off on me, and I am glad we met at the impressionable age of 6.
S told me she always saw me as strong and independent. Even when I was just a shy, angsty kid who spoke more than a few sentences exclusively with her. You see why I wrote a whole newsletter about her? Yeah.
How incredible, to have someone like S in your life. A reminder of what matters in the grand scheme of things, and a person who sees you the way you long to be seen; without having to ask.
I am fortunate and grateful to have S in my life. Every single day.
I would legitimately move mountains for her (so that we can build our dream house and live together as we always envisioned).
Since you're reading this, S: I love you. Always have, always will.
S’s twin here :))
My heart is so full reading this! It makes me so incredibly happy to know that she has someone like you in her life 😭♥️
Sooo beautiful