Jubilant and excited we got in a same section. As usual two of us chose the last bench and waited for the new friends to get in the class. We were actually counting the pretty girls we could call as classmates. All the girls were pretty but when one of my sizes entered I muttered an expression of triumph. Little less than average in structure, sensational eye balls, fair skin and one-fourth of her face covered from fallen hairs; she was simply assuasive to my eyes. Pema noticed me and praised my choice.
My friend Pema had a business background and he was born rich. He befriended me while I was once bedridden from typhoid in our old school. He helped my parents in monetary terms. He was average in studies and usually learned from me. From thereon, we became best of friends. I helped him solve trigonometry and gave him clues to identify salts in labs and he would buy me uniforms and his pocket money started to share by two. Luck had us that both of us qualified to a same school and in the same stream.
I was a shy and timid student in crowd. He was an extrovert who was never seen down in his life. The moment I muttered about Choden's exquisiteness he made sure it was known in the class. And from day two everyone started teasing me with Choden. She was a cool girl who did not bother what her classmates had to link with me. But it bothered me much. To tease with a girl was an accelerator in a heart. She started glowing like a sun and if I met her in corridor I would become a mere shadow when my nerves started to constrict from her flame. Many times I controlled my bowel in the class from getting edginess and fear of her attention towards me. I always made sure I was in the class before her. I did not know what I was going through until one day when she was absent from the class. Classroom became empty and I did not feel hungry. Next day when she joined the class I was more than happy and I knew I was in love, and loved her with all my heart without even telling to my friend. Friends continued to tease us openly and I continued to love her secretly.
One night when I was about to fall asleep I heard my name being called and before I conjured up the thought Pema was beside me. He said he wanted to talk to me and assured it was important. The talk was straight and he sounded gruff. I was surprised if he was drunk but he was not. He wanted to know if I had any feelings towards Choden. He had never asked this before and it came as another surprise to me. At that time I could think only one; he must be in love with her. I wanted to hug him and nod at him. But I pretended a heartless man who could never love Choden in my entire lifetime. It was a lie I told my friend and before I could make up my words he said he loved Choden. I was numbed and few seconds later I thought it was a lie worth to my friend. I saw dominance in his words when he told me to write a love letter to her. He wanted in the morning and further commanded me to leave a space for three beautiful words to be written by him. And like a ghost he left me without expression of goodnight wish. It was a night where I remembered everything about our friendship in the past. He had been a gracious person in my life and I owed him much gratitude. It was a payback time for me.
In the morning I took out the letter pad and started to scribble a love note to Choden. I was surprised I had reached almost at the bottom page when I remembered Pema's words to leave some space for him to continue. More surprising was I had involuntarily written my true feelings to her. A quick glance at the letter brought me mixed feelings of pride and sadness. I handed over the letter to Pema who was least bothered to talk to me. Next few days were hard for me. It was painful to lose my friend more than losing my girl. My friendship with him became memories only to recede with time.
I stayed late night trying to finish the assignment. There was a knock at the door. Pema ushered in with books in his hands, probably for a help to complete his assignments too. I looked at him from the restricted candle light giving an easy smile. He sat near to me, opened the book and handed me two envelopes. I took out the first which contained his monthly pocket money. I started to change the direction of thoughts. I felt he was stupid to come with money to reconcile the friendship. He sat still and I took out the second envelope. The letter was addressed to me. I thought he must have written how bad he felt to ignore me all these days. I was touched and started to read. Few lines through, I paused, checked the end of page and continued to read.
When I finished reading, he took my arm, dragged towards him and told me the beautiful words.
"Stupid, Choden is all yours. I gave the letter you wrote for me, and remember the last phrase I wanted to write myself? I wrote your name. Tomorrow take her out for a dinner, she loves you very much and this is your money"
That night was the memorable night for me. It was a night where only a gracious person like my friend could ever have a heart to make it special in my life.
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