I can still remember the first day I met Ivan. We were in Sec 2. Ms Lo was our teacher back then and she changed the seating arrangement so that friends were separated and couldn't talk to each other. Well, actually that wasn't really the case for 2a5. No matter how far we were, we would always have some things called pen and paper. So letters were the next best alternatives to talking since mobile phones were banned in school. But Ivan and I rarely used them. We were practically sitting together the whole of the year except for exam periods. And no matter how Ms Lo switched places we were still sitting together. We moved from one end to the other, still sitting together.
Actually, on first look, you wouldn't think that we were friends. In Sec 2, the first time we acknowledged each other was when we were punished to stand in Mr Goh's class for not doing his first homework. It was kind of funny cause we were the only ones in class who didn't bother doing, or even copying. Well, the punishment was not. Anyway, we were to complete twice the amount of work given. So we stayed back together to complete the punishment. And so we talked. Throughout the whole Sec 1 period, I didn't even know there was such a character in class. We sat in the opposite poles of the class, so I'd never noticed him and he'd never noticed me. Well, back then I wasn't so observant, too. Then he asked when my birthday was and demanded to be my "Gor".
Okay, lemme get this straight first. Ivan was skinny, very, in fact, with very fair skin and he was short. Actually it was his size that made him look so much shorter than the other guys. Well, now he's taller, but ceteris paribus. haha.. Anyway, he was often the target for the other guys in class. Quite dumb cause he was quite mouthy, his mouth always got him into trouble. And I was often pissed off with him cause of that fact, too. So it just happened that most of the time we're talking face-to-face, we were arguing, or I was beating him up. Noob. Still wanted me to call him "Gor"? Geh. I called him "Jie" instead. HAHAHA!
But circumstances made it that we started talking over the phone. No idea how it started, but by the time I noticed, we were talking on the phone quite often and it was late into the nights kind of thing. So obviously we talked about loads of things, about his stupid love life and other stuff. HAHAHA! But the phone was one thing, the classroom was another. We hardly talked about other stuff in class. Maybe it was because there were too many ears nearby. And in the entire year, we only went out once together with 8 other people. At that time, we were still strangers.
Then we moved on into Sec 3. I went into 3s2 and he went into 3a1. So our classroom and nightly conversations both came to a halt. At some point of time it began again, but only the phone conversations begun. Passing each other in school would mean a kick on the leg as greeting. But yes, we still continued to know about each others' lives. If that means kept in contact, then we were.
I think our smses are the most unique ones there are. The person who begins the conversation will either send "Are you sleeping?", "Are you awake?" or "Free to chat?". A standard thing. Unless there's something in mind already. So most of the time when we start conversations, we don't really have anything to talk about. Then the person who receives the message will either start a conversation or say "Okay, you start a topic." And then we will just continue talking like that. And the topics range were wide, very wide, actually. It was wide because we spoke freely. There was once when a certain someone's cleavage came into the conversation, and then that idiot couldn't stop talking about it. Dirty old fellow. But it was like we just spoke whatever we thought of. And drive each other mad. Well, yeah, it was a very blunt friendship, with little disguise of ourselves.
You know, there are somethings that you cannot tell people, somethings you never tell people. With him, the rules still apply. But as for the things you can tell people, but don't want to, for him, it's a lot lesser than a lot of my other friends. It doesn't mask the fact that he gives me HBP every time we talk, and the fact that he's so damn annoying, but we just happen to be so close despite everything else. Even our social circles rarely clash. I mean, he knows my friends and I know his, friends in OPSS, that is, but except for Rachel, he's not really close to anyone close to me. So it's sort of a wonder that we still continue to remain as close without talking face-to-face.
But throughout this friendship, I have never regretted meeting Ivan and becoming friends. I believe that this friendship is one that will last, and last a long long time. Thanks for being my friend.
Dedicated to Ivan Lee You Qing, wishing him a happy belated 17 birthday.
