Next...

Plan to publish in school magazine and in Star NIE...
Enjoy...

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More than a Friend
I have a friend, a BFF. I bet your BFF is the same sex as you… right? Well, mine’s different. My best friend is a guy, while I’m a girl. But in the end, he was more than a friend to me… you would understand if you continue reading this…

Before my senior year ended, I started to date a jock. We dated about six months. All the girls in school envied me for dating this super cute hottie, Brian. I would always hang out with Patrick during my spare time, before I started dating Brian. “Hey, Lily… where’re we going to hang out?” he would asked on every Friday night. But after I got together with Brian, I would spend every single second with him. I know I sound desperate but what can I do? It’s the first time I have a boyfriend, right? Since then, my time with Patrick was limited. Our friendship grew apart, day by day. Occasionally, I would see him. When I did, he always had that sad look in his eyes which he tried to camouflage by smiling. But I didn’t care. Those six months were the happiest months of my life. Brian would playfully whisper ‘I love you...’ which always gives me butterflies in my stomach. He even brought me to our senior prom. To people’s eyes, we looked like a happy couple. But we were facing problems. I found out that Brian was dating a sophomore. I was sad and angry; he was two timing me all this while. I had enough. “It’s over!” I yelled at him. I slapped his face harshly and walked away, tears streaming down my eyes. My heart was broken into pieces.

News travelled fast in the small place I lived in. Soon enough, Patrick knew about it and came over. “Lily? Are you okay?” he asked once I opened the door. I couldn’t hold my feelings any longer and just hugged him tightly. He comforted me, reassuring me. He stayed with me until sunset. I cried my eyes out and while I cursed that two timing bastard. He just kept quiet and lent his shoulder for me to cry on, and hugged me. Soon, my wounded heart was sewn back. Since that day, our friendship grew stronger then ever.

We spent every second together for the whole summer. We would just lie down on the grass, looking back our childhood. I was so happy. For once, I hoped that the time would freeze, just for me.

“I got my college application! I finally gotten my FREAKING COLLEGE APPLICATION!!!” he screamed in delight.

I was very happy for him, truly am. But deep down, I felt… sad. I know its fine to feel sad for these type things, but this feeling was different. I get tense, thinking that Patrick would be miles away from me. ‘Why do I feel like this?’ I thought, trying to think of reasons for my sudden behavior. Since, he would be leaving for college soon; I tried to spend every free time I had with him. And I cherished it. One day, exactly a week before his departure, we were sitting at his porch, watching the twinkling stars in the night sky. “Lily, I’ll miss you when I’m at college…” he said. I turned my gaze from staring at the stars to look at him. He stared into my eyes while I stared into his. I suddenly felt my heart leap at the sight of his eyes. He was so close to me. ‘Oh God…’ The sight of his eyes took my breath away. I quickly turned my head towards the opposite side. I felt my face blushed slightly. “What’s wrong?” he asked. I just shook my head. I leaned onto his strong, broad shoulder. “I’ll miss you, too…” I asked. “I may be back for my semester holidays in May…” he said. I just replied sadly, “Oh…”Patrick noticed my sad expression. He stroked my hair and said, “Tell you what. Let’s make a promise to meet up when I’m back…okay?” I just nodded, not trusting my voice to speak; I was at the point of breaking down. He kissed me on my forehead.

For the next few days, my mind was always clouded, clouded with messy thoughts. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Why do I feel so sad about him leaving…’ In the end, I knew why. On the eve on Patrick’s departure, I was getting some stuff ready. I was going with him to his hostel to help set things up. I was rummaging my cabinet when I found a photo album. There were lots of pictures of me and Patrick since pre-school. There was a picture of us in the sand box at our pre-school, throwing sand at each other. I smiled to myself. There was also a photo of us at our year ten formal dance. Patrick was my date. I used to have braces then. I was happily smiling towards the camera, showing my ugly braces. Patrick had this huge pimple on the left side of his face, but he was still grinning in front of the camera, arm around my shoulders. A sense of nostalgia came over me. I was crying at the sight of all those photos of us. At that moment, I knew why I didn’t want him to go off to college. I love him. It hit me hard. ‘I’m gonna miss him so, so much…’

The next day, we took a ride to his college hostel. When we got there, we started cleaning his dusty room. By the end of the day, it was clean already. It was already late dusk and my dad was still not there to give me a ride home. So, we walked around Patrick’s new campus. It was quite late so we sat at one of the benches there. Both of us were awkwardly quiet. The silence was deafening. I was staring at the ground. In my heart, I was silently crying. “Lily… I wanna tell you something…” he said. I turned to listen to him. In a split second, his face was right in front of me, just a few centimeters away. He closed his eyes and moved forward and kissed me. He grabbed both of my hands by my wrists and leaned forward me a little more. I closed my eyes, too. Blushing a little, he said, “Lily… I love you for a very long time”. He gave me an envelope. Dad came soon after that. On the way back home, my stomach kept doing summersaults. ‘Oh my God! He loves me too…’ I took out the envelope that Patrick gave me and opened it. It was a picture of us, when we were like ten. At the right top corner, he written: I ♥ you…

I took out my phone and started typing:

-I love you too…

And sent it. Within a few seconds, I got a message.

-I should come back every weekend then? =)

Since then, our friendship grew strong, along with our relationship. We share and compromise things; and now, we both share the same last name and two beautiful children.