HBBC: First Impressions

A belated HBBC post, overdue yet a promise is a promise. I try to keep mine, so Noor, here I am.

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10th grade. This girl had enormous pride, I didn't like her. She wouldn't talk to us, and it was awkward when her two friends came to socialize. She had her own group of friends. This was our place, our school, our teachers. We belonged here. We weren't to be threatened. It was decided hostility, it was weird. Huda and I got along with everyone just fine. She was smart, perhaps we felt the competition. I'm sure she did too. We felt justified somehow.
We were asked to go to a school for a presentation and to our surprise we were to present with her. How fate works. We worked professionally together. We discussed it, agreed at how we'd do it. Till something happened. I can't remember what exactly. She wasn't so bad afterall, we laughed and joked. Even related to what the other was saying. Could this be? Yes. We became friends. Helped each other out with homework, it was good to have someone like her. So the year was spent. A lesson about people.

11th grade. I was put in a class on my own, how could I do this? When you had your twin sister with you throughout your school years in the same class it was only normal for you to feel scared. You wouldn't be able to do it. How could you break awkward silences with people without her joking? The first few weeks I was completely against the idea, it was going to be the end of me. They said it was for our benefit. We couldn't see how. Guess what? She was there with me. I remember her wanting to join another class to be with her friends but she said something about not leaving, at least I was here. There was hope. We sat together in the same group. I became bolder, more confident. I was on my own. I had it in me to be on my own. I kept her close. We studied, joked, read together. The time we had together made us realize of just how similar we were. We had inside jokes about teachers. This wasn't so bad, this was exactly what I needed. We confessed our mutual dislike for each other. We laughed it off.

12th grade. The best year of my school years by far, and mainly due to my friend Ayda. That's her name. I was a changed person. I became an almost nerdy rebel. We would talk every minute we were together. We knew every single thing the other did the previous day, when we went to sleep, when we woke up, what dishes we had for lunch and dinner, what did we study, what thoughts we had. There was no end to the topics we discussed. Teachers would always get annoyed. We didn't care, they loved us all the same. We sat a foot apart at first, then she moved to another place in the classroom. It never stopped us. when a teacher wrote something on the board, we stole moments to communicate what seemed an urgent piece of information to each other then. We were caught many times. She was the one who made me feel there was hope in me to be something, I could make it somehow in the world. She was the one I spent so much time telling about a book I was reading. She listened, like truly. She often told me how she loves my enthusiam for books. I loved her faith. She was honest. She set out to do something and she did it. She was the kind of person who knew what to say in the right moment. I was never that. I looked up to her in many things. We made it through a lot of drama that year. We cherished every moment. Endless texting back and forth.

I don't see her now at all. I miss talking to her endlessly; books and people and little things that happened to us. Life has its ways of keeping you away from the people you love. Yet, we'll always be in touch. I know that for sure. And I know, you'll always live in my heart, thoughts and prayers. I'll look back to my last days at school with smiles because of you, Ayda. So here. First impressions aren't to be trusted. Look at where we were and where we are now.
You're one of a kind. So I dedicate this post to you. I can't believe that you read what I write, that makes me proud. And I take pride in being your friend.

Yours,
Noor