How I Met My Best Friend

Hey everyone. Today I am going to tell you a story, the story of “How I Met My Best Friend”.

It all started at the time when I was in college. I used to call every other person my best friend because I always thought that maybe I will be theirs too. But that never happened. That changed the day I saw her for the very first time, she was just sitting there laughing her heart out like she is the happiest person in this entire world. As soon as I saw her, I felt like I fell in love with her, or it was her smile, I am not sure. She is the purest soul I know and can ever meet. I was there and it was just like everything going around just paused until one of my buddies from college (Sam) came to me and asked me to click his picture with her. Yes, I was the “famous” DSLR guy there who just roamed around clicking pictures. I didn't talk to her that day because I was scared if she wouldn’t like to talk to a fool like me. She was in my class and I never noticed that until I saw her that day. After a few months, it was time for our exams and I never studied seriously for those. We will come to that later on. But yes, it was our exam time and I used to disturb everyone in that group and she was doing the same thing. One of my friends joined us. I thought of making a separate group for the three of us.

It was our first exam, and I was freaking out because I didn't study for that seriously, and she walked in from the door. We waved at each other and then moved ahead to our classes and figured out our classes were the same too. My friends teased me for leaving the class as soon as she did just to talk to her and not caring about the exams. But that was never the case.

The new semester started and Sam introduced me to his group and I can define them like “The bossy person — Rachel”, “The Stud — Harry”, “The Actor — Sam” and “The Friendly One — Robin”. I was surrounded by the craziest set of people so I named the group “Crazy People”. My old group was not happy watching me getting close to these bunch of freaks. But life has its way of making you meet the people who can get hell lot of important to you in your life. And let me tell you these freaks changed my life because they just didn’t become my friends, they became my FAMILY. The family I chose for myself, the one where there was no one related by blood, but by heart. I never thought of it back then but now when I think of it, getting to know them was the best part of my college life.

Now coming back to Robin, at first, I thought it was my love for her because of which I wanted to talk to her but then I realized that I just loved talking to her. Robin used to understand me so perfectly and we gradually became best friends. Then one day when I was sitting in college doing my work, Sam rushed to me and asked me about my blood group. I asked him the reason. He said, “Robin is in hospital suffering from some illness and she needs blood.” I panicked, we both rushed to the hospital. Her parents, her elder sister and some of the acquittance were there. I went blank. Sam spoke to her sister (Cathy) who then took us in her room. She was lying there, tired and fed up with that bed and hospital. She looked at us and the first thing she said was “I want to get out of here, just can’t take it anymore.” to which Sam replied, “You will be perfectly fine in no time.” 

I used to go there every day just to meet her and to check that she was doing fine. People used to ask me if I had feelings for her and honestly somewhere I did, I don’t know why but I couldn’t help it. After trying a lot, I was finally able to control them. Every day after coming back home from the hospital, my sister used to ask me about her health and I had a constant reply “She will be jumping around real soon.” which by God’s grace she did. 

Everyone at college asked me about her health though we didn’t talk daily. And when I said this to people, they were shocked and asked me if we were best friends for real. Yes, we were and to me, she is still my best friend. Where is it written that you have to talk for hours daily, only then you guys shall be called best friends? I don’t feel that. Until… Okay, that's a different story I will get to that.

So, guys where were we, oh yes, we didn’t use to talk daily and there were even times when we didn't speak to each other for about 3 months and that didn't affect our friendship too. And by this time, we were in that comfort zone where from “Hey do you have time?” we were now at “Everything is planned. I have taken permission from your home.” We were now so close friends that those formalities just didn't matter. Everyone at her home knew me and trusts me by now. Want to know how? Remember the time when I used to visit her at the hospital and I met her family. I know it was not the right place for introducing myself but maybe it had to happen that way. 

So, it was the time of fall 2016 when Rachel and Sam moved to a new city for their graduation and Robin was doing her graduation in the same city. Now I started to hang around with Harry. We didn’t talk that much in college though. But they say you never know what life has in store for you. He grew out to be my best buddy, and we even went to do something that everyone thought was super crazy. But that's what Harry says life is all about, “Living the moments to the best.” 

It was 2018 and my old group started to drift away from me because of the fights and I started feeling more comfortable with these freaks. But Sam and I were not on talking terms because of some stupidity I did. But as this is not his part yet in the story. Right now, I am telling you about Harry, so we will get to Sam’s part later.

Harry was with me in the city tolerating me all alone the whole time. Rachel was the one who always gave me the best advice but by this time we stopped talking. No, not because we had a fight or something but because both of us got occupied in our own lives. Talking about Sam, yeah about him I don’t know what he was doing back then apart from posting very cool photos which I used to hate because I was not there to click those and I always missed the photoshoots we did. I told you all sometimes we don’t know what life has in store for us. Life gave me a brother at that time when I needed someone the most.

Yeah, now you guys will be thinking about what about Robin, she was really busy adjusting herself in her new college life. Which she was enjoying. And about me, I was trying to divert my mind and indulge myself in multiple works. We used to meet whenever she had time and talked about hours discussing all the things that were happening in our lives. And there they were, the feelings I was holding back from so long, they returned. She became more than a friend to me. But getting there is all impossible because now, she had become someone I wouldn’t want to break my ties with. She was my best friend. And then in the fall of 2018, I met a girl.

So, the best time of 2018 began when I met Rose. We met through some common friends. She was not an ordinary girl. She had some superpowers. Yes, a girl with superpowers, that’s interesting enough. Right? As you can guess by now, I am a messy person and I love to mess things up. She used to talk me out of everything I messed up. She was magical. We used to talk for hours even when we had nothing to talk about. I told Robin about her, and she was so happy for me. But then Rose has something else in mind for her life and things didn’t work out between us. We are still very good friends. People say how can you be friends with someone you used to like, but I think you can be friends with the person if you are comfortable enough to stay together. The one who wants to stay in your life will always find a way to do so. Robin helped me when I got depressed about what happened between Rose and I. I don’t know, how different these 4 years would be if she was not there for me. But you know what? She was there, always. In the blink of an eye telling me the right thing to do. My mom used to tell me “Having the best friend is like having your little corner of the world to escape to.” and Robin was my escape from the world.

Isn’t it shocking that sometimes the person you haven’t met in years and have no plans of meeting with can just come and play such an important role in your life? This part is about one such a person. Actually, when I broke up with Rose, one of my old school friends, Abby visited the town with her mom (Aunt Alice). And I was the one to show her the city. I grew fond of her mom like she was mine. She taught me so many things about life and how things work in this world. And damn, how right was she about it. Right all of us know about how life goes but sometimes you just need someone to make you remember what you are doing wrong and what you should do at that very moment to make things right. Things can go wrong but a person to guide you can do wonders in your story. Aunt Alice was the person with whom I felt very comfortable at the very moment I met her. For her, I was like her son and for me, she had become my entire family. She knew me back from my school-days but I didn’t know her back then and now I did.

I told you all about how Harry and I became friends. Two people who had nobody to hang around with had started hanging around with each other. He was like Chandler to me. No matter how stupid I get always there to tell me what is right, and he made sure I understood it. It was the winter of 2019 when I was going with some financial crisis. Nobody knew about that except him. He helped me a lot at that time. I looked up to him whenever I got stuck in any problem. And he made sure that he came up with a solution to it. Smiling at the problems and not paying head to them. Harry taught me how to handle the most difficult situations of my life. You must be thinking about what kind of person I am who needs a life lesson from everyone. But isn’t that what life is “We learn from everyone and everything that’s around us.” And this all will make sense someday to every person in their life.

Don’t every one of us have a friend in our life who is just like a sister to you? Treats you like you are family to them. I had two friends like that. One was Rachel and the other one was Beth. My sisters from another mister. Who never made me feel like I am not their real brother? 

I told you all Rachel moved out for completing her graduation. And so, did Beth, maybe a year after Rachel. Beth always knew that I had feelings for Robin. From the very first day, Beth knew it all because she was my oldest friend and the one closest to me. But by the fall of 2018 Rachel got an idea about my feelings too. 

She asked me constantly about it but I never told her as I was too afraid of accepting my feelings for Robin, I always felt like everything will end the very moment I accept that I was in love with her. But at that time, I was too confused about my feelings. I was dating Rose at that time. I mean I don’t know actually what was going on in my mind. Maybe I was never clear about these things.

Sam was one of the closest buddies I had in my college. You guys know he was the one because of whom I met Robin. And then I did something stupid because of which we stopped talking to each other. This is the story of that stupidity. 

Back in 2015, Sam was dating Valerie in college. They broke up after some time and it was the time of summer 2016 when I started talking to Valerie because she was still friends with Sam. Sam was about to leave town after some time, so I planned a farewell for him. Valerie was a part of it because it was only three of us meeting at that farewell party. After that Valerie and I started talking a lot, leading to me breaking the ‘BRO CODE’ falling for one of my friends' ex. But I never dated her because I knew how awkward it will get between me and Sam, if I did so. 

But Sam thought I was dating her, and we stopped talking to each other. I can at least give you one important piece of advice. Never break the ‘BRO CODE’, because it is very important. I broke Sam’s trust and I had to pay for it by losing his friendship. But things got back to normal between us eventually. Now that’s the story that will come later on.

I know you must be thinking this was the story about Me and Robin then why am I telling you about everyone else, it’s because you need to understand how everyone came into play when this story ends. Because every story needs to end somewhere and now, we are moving towards the end of this one. Maybe, let us not call it an end. Let’s call it a new beginning. 

I told you all how I and Robin became best friends. How she was the best friend I was searching for all this time for and how my feelings for her grew. By the start of spring 2019, I lost my grandfather and Robin was the only one I can talk to about it. I met her the night I was really scared of losing him. She came and met me and I cried my heart out in front of her. She was so supportive of me. 

By the time of mid-spring 2019, Rachel was sure that something is going on in my mind regarding Robin. But I was not accepting it in front of anyone. And Robin was busy with her Internship, so we were not able to meet, just like before. Meeting after months and telling each other every problem and every good thing that’s happening. She was the only one all this time with whom I shared everything.

By the time of mid-summer, everyone was back in town. Rachel had started working in some other city but since her family was here, she used to come here very often. Sam got a job here, Harry was back as he was searching for jobs, Robin and I never left. So, we planned and had a group meet after ages. Yes, it seriously felt like we all were together at the same place after so long. That is still the best day I ever had. 

After that Harry got an intuition about my feelings for Robin, I didn’t tell him. Harry’s sister Trisha was back in town after completing her higher studies we never talked before, but we did know each other. And at the same time, Robin’s sister was back in town. We three went on a dinner and I spoke to her sister about all the things people used to say about us and how stupid we thought those people were. I never talked to Cathy much, but I was always very fond of her. She was like an elder sister to me. After this, everyone was so sure that something is going on between me and Robin. But we never answered anyone because we knew how good friends we are and what we mean to each other.

It was the time of Robin’s birthday and I planned a gift for her every year. I loved making gifts for her. And the thing about handmade gifts is how precious they can get to anyone. So, I planned to make a gift. Trisha helped me. Everyone in the group thought it was a little out-of-the-way thing to make a gift for someone, but isn’t that the joy of those gifts. I always loved to do something out of the way for Robin, and she did the same for me too many times. I planned, Harry and I met her on her birthday, she was happy. We all were. That was the day I confessed to Trisha I had feelings for Robin. It was our secret but you know what, the problem with secrets is that if you keep them to yourself, they remain a secret. But the moment you tell it to someone, you can’t keep it inside anymore and then you start telling people close to you about that secret. So, I told Harry, then Rachel and then my sister, and they all knew about it already. And all of them told me I should talk to Robin about it. And I thought it’s time to tell Robin everything. But, did I?

So, when you think about doing something you should go for it. I thought of telling Robin everything and one day I just asked her to meet me. She was occupied somewhere, so she asked me if we can plan it someday later, but I couldn’t resist and rushed to meet her out of nowhere. We sat and were discussing everything happening in our lives. In my mind, I was scared of losing her. But it was clear that I need to tell her everything. I took a deep breath and told her; I want to say something. Do you know the beauty of such situations? There is a war going on in your mind if you should confess or you shouldn’t. But then I started talking about other things, and she said: “Will you tell me the thing that you want to talk about?” I was still scared, and then she said: “I know you like me.” 

I was shocked at first then I thought how did she know. I asked “You knew?” But she just guessed it, and she was shocked too that she guessed it right, maybe because she never expected this would happen. I was always the best friend for her. At that moment I thought maybe I did wrong, maybe I shouldn’t have told her.

Sometimes it happens that your worst fears come to life. Mine did when I told Robin everything. I thought of everything all over again, every moment we cherished together led us here. To the day when I was sure her answer will be ‘NO’. I was always sure of it, that was the reason why I never confessed in the first place. Things got weird enough, and I was just trying to calm the situation that I ruined. We had something special and that was our friendship. There was just one thing going on my mind “What if she doesn’t talk to me at all?” 

I was scared of losing her. You know when do you understand someone’s importance in your life? It’s the day when you realize that you are about to lose her forever. On a scale of 10, I would mark her 100. She never said anything about liking me more than a friend, never gave any hint. It was me all along. And now when I think about it. I just know it was my mistake and that I always cherished her friendship and not my feelings for her. All this time I thought of telling her about how I feel sometimes. And yes, I did. But is this the end? Maybe not.

I told you all “We were best friends, but we never used to talk daily and that never affected our friendship. Until!” This is the story of that “UNTIL” 

Things started affecting me now. I was so scared of losing her that I started fighting with her over texts. She was busy or maybe she was thinking about all this too. Her answer was “NO” I was pretty sure about it. Because she never took me more than a friend. We didn’t meet for about 3 weeks. I lost my mind and I decided to talk to Harry, Trisha, Rachel, Beth and my sister about this. All of them said that I was thinking too much and I think they were right. I met Sam, I told him everything. At first, he was angry because I never told him anything. I know somewhere I was important to him, and he is to me but I have done things I am not proud of. And with Sam things just started to get back to normal. At the time when I told him everything, that was the moment I realized that people who wish to be a part of your life will find their way back anyhow like we both did. But with Robin, I just made things awkward. I didn’t know how to fix them.

It was fall 2019, I met her again after three weeks, I was so happy to see her again. There she was sitting in the café waiting for me. As usual, I was late. I just wanted to say to her that our friendship is way more important for me than any other thing in this world. She was the one who taught me what a best friend can mean to the person. But instead, I tried convincing her to say “YES” because maybe I had a little hope that this could happen. Sometimes people cannot think straight enough and can’t say what matters. I didn’t. Believe me, I was wrong. I knew everything, I knew she never thought of me more than a friend but I did whatever I felt was right at that moment. And sometimes following your instincts is more important than doing the right thing. Isn’t it? Robin tried to explain her situation to me but there I was ruining all just because of something that never mattered to me more than what I already had for her. She was trying but I never listened to her. If I had maybe things would have been different. Maybe I wouldn’t have done what I did next.

Now you guys must be thinking these were the stupid things one could have ever done. Nothing can go beyond. But trust me you guys, this was not all. I have something more than this coming up. After meeting Robin, when I came back home, I decided to do something more stupid. Now by this time, you all know how important Harry is in my life and how I felt Cathy as my elder sister and I always need people to talk me out of the stuff. Mostly Robin was the one doing that all these years but now this was about her and I screwed things up so clearly, I can’t talk to her. 

I decided to visit Harry and Cathy as they were in the same city. I called Cathy and asked her to meet. But she was busy, so I went to Harry’s place. I spoke to him about everything I did. He advised me to go back home and think about everything with a cool mind. But since I wanted to meet Cathy, I stayed. I thought she can be the one who can clear more things in my mind. The thing was I wanted to tell her how important her sister is for me and how bad I screwed things up. I wanted to talk to her so that she could advise me on how to bring everything back to normal. But the question was will she meet me?

It was my second day in the town. Cathy was so piled up with work that she had absolutely no time to meet and I had already met Harry, so I decided to go back home. But before that, I needed to talk my heart out, so I decided to call Beth. I told her everything. She shouted at me bad just for the foolish things I did. I surely deserved that. I came back home the next day trying to act like everything is just normal but all of us know the truth. Nothing was normal and maybe it will never be again. 

I was back home, I visited Sam. I stayed at his place because I thought he was the only one who can handle me and guess what? He did, every childish behavior I did, every time I cried. I called Rachel the same night and asked her if I did something wrong. If I shouldn’t have told her anything. But every person just told me I did nothing wrong. Even Robin told me the same thing in that cafe. And sometimes it’s important to express your feelings to the other person because they can no longer just be part of you. They need to be told to the person for whom they are there. But there are many things that are left unsaid.

Maybe what I wasn’t able to speak to Robin I can write to her. 

Dear Robin, 

                     I know how you feel about everything that happened. I know it will not be easy to take things back to the way they were. But I just want you to know you are way more important to me than you will ever know. I realized it was always our friendship that made us so special and it will always be special to me. I don’t know what the future has in store for us but I just know I want you to be there always because you are the best person in my life. You made me realize what’s the true meaning of friendship really is. I am hell scared of losing you and you are not wrong in taking time to get back to normal. I know it will take time but I just hope everything gets back to the way it was. But I am happy at least I told you everything. Someone told me I do things going out of the way for you but you do too. And this is why I am saying sorry like this. I just want you to know I will be there whenever you need me and that you will always be my best friend no matter what. And if there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your memories. I will stay there forever.

Your Beloved, 

Ted.