Once upon a time,we were best friends...

She was curly-haired, spontaneous and spoke in spurts. I had a "boy-cut", was less witty and more talkative. She was one of the 'new girls' in school that year.We met on the schoolbus, and became what two seven year olds so endearingly label 'best friends'.

Every morning, I saved her a seat on the bus. We would sit next to each other and gabble in a way only two third-graders can. Sometimes, I went over to her place to spend the day, sometimes, she came over to mine.

Months passed. She gradually made other friends. Our exchanges trickled down to occasional smiles and hellos. And then nothing at all.

Years went by.We finished Grade Three, then Four, then Five and then Six. 

In Class Seven, after a routine reshuffling by the board, we landed up in the same section. But both of us had our own circle of friends, and we seldom crossed paths.

One day, about a month after school started, someone came and told me that she would be leaving school soon, because her family was moving to Philadelphia. Soon after, I overheard a few of her close friends discuss something animatedly: a farewell party that she had invited them to. I was not on the list of invitees.

That evening, I did what I did whenever I was upset - I went to the terrace and cried my heart out.I recalled our frequent interactions of years ago, when we were still giggly seven-year olds travelling together to school and back home everyday, oblivious to the distances that were soon to come.

When I went back home that evening, Papa understood my frame of mind. He drew me close and said, "I know why you are so upset...it is because Prakshi did not bother to invite you to her party, isn't it?"

The tears came rushing back to me. "No," I blubbered. "It is because she is going so far away."

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Twelve years thence, I am more mature, more balanced. But at the core of it, I still value relationships the way I used to when I was a kid. To many, it may seem like an atrocious idea: here was a girl who had clearly turned her back on me, hadn't interacted with me in years, but news of her going away to a faraway country still hurt. What was I, crazy? But then, that, people, is me.So what if she hadn't cared enough to invite me to her party?

Recently, I found her on Facebook. And I sent her a request. She added me up. It felt good to see her after so long.

Obviously, she doesn't matter to me any more, because it's been eons since I saw her. But once in a while, when she crosses my mind, I think back of the time we giggled all the way to school and back. Because once upon a time, we were friends. Best Friends.

Much Love,

Me.