Joan : 14 years
I was still in surprise mode even though it been almost a year since I and Liza, started our friendship.
Liza and I were opposites especially in terms of our appearance. She's slim, tall, cute and girly. In short every teenage boys dream girl. I on the other hand was curvy, short and even had braces on.
Liza was super popular among boys and girls of my age for her beauty but she rarely spoke to them. Many boys asked her out but she constantly rejected them without any mercy.
"Hey Liza can I talk to you for a moment" . A random boy from the next class came upto to us while we were having lunch.
"No if you want to say anything, say in front of her. I don't wanna talk to you privately." Liza says coldly.
"Hey, just go Liz. I think he likes you." I whisper.
"Like I said, if you wanna say something, say it now or else leave." Liza glares at him making him flinch.
"I like you. Please go out with me." The boy says timidly.
"I don't like you." Liza says ruthlessly.
The boy goes back dejected, his head facing the ground. The answer was always "No" from her part. It didn't matter who asked her out.
"Hey, don't be so cruel. Can't you just say it in a nice manner."
"Then what? Give them hope? Don't you think that's more hurtful? Isn't it better to just say No and let them move on?"
I sat there silent, unable to give her an answer. Liza was right. Her way was better. It might hurt for a while but the hurt would give them strength to move on.
"Besides why do I even need a boyfriend when I have you, my cute girlfriend!!" Liza smirks.
"Yeah right. Stop joking Liz." I blush.
"Hey y'all. I have a girlfriend now and her name's Joan and I love her." Liza shouts at the top of her voice, getting up on the table, causing heads to turn towards our direction. The student's were looking at us in a questionable manner. They began to whisper among themselves and after sometime they quiet downed. The whole school was used to her eccentric behaviour.
"What the hell !?? Liz get down. Stop acting like a drunkard." I pull her skirt in an attempt to make her sit.
"Sorry for the disturbance. Please continue your lunch break. She's crazy." I apologize bowing my head .
"Hey!! I'm not crazy" Liza pouts.
" You are not just crazy. You're crazy mad." I tell her shocked by her quirkiness.
"Yeah madly in love with you" Liza grins.
"Yeah okay. Now eat."
Several questions haunted me like a nightmare everytime I was with her. Why me? Why did she choose to be friends with me? Why she avoided talking to others and only me? Why she kept rejecting her love interests?
What was I to her? Was I just a friend or something more?
I wanted to know the answer but then again I was afraid of asking her these questions. Then, one day Liza invited me to her home. It was my first time visiting her's. Other than my cousins, I've not visited anyone else's home on my own and for that very reason, I was extremely nervous. Many questions popped up in my head to the point I thought of giving up on the visit.
Should I buy her something? What should I buy? What if her mom doesn't like me? What if I mess it up?
Somehow I managed to calm myself down and was on my way to Liza's home. I didn't want give in to my nervous thoughts. Since I didn't know the exact location, I decided to meet her at the church instead and from there we planned to go to her home together.
The first thing I noticed about her home was that it was double storeyed, painted all in ivory and blue and how everything about the big mansion screamed luxury.
Liza's mom was very sweet and welcomed me with open arms. She looked really pretty with her long black hair, almond shaped eyes and her sun-kissed skin. I guess Liza carries close resemblance to her mother as their eyes looked alike and so did their facial features.
Later Liza showed me around her room. The walls, painted creamy white, were plastered with posters of famous boy bands, Hollywood movies and various actors and actresses. She also showed me her music collection, home theatre system, Bluetooth speaker and her PC. Since my father didn't have a steady income, owning a laptop or a bluetooth speaker or any expensive gadget was something I could never even dream of.
Later, she showed me her family album which contained her pictures of when she was a young girl. Just as I visioned, most pictures of hers had her signature bright smile that displayed her pearly whites.
Liza rarely spoke about her family especially her father. Even while showing me her family album,she kept silent everytime, her fathers photos came up. I always wanted to ask her about him but something prevented me from doing so. I return home, in hopes of visiting her again.
Then one day Liza fractured her legs and had to take rest for two weeks. I felt bad and secretly happy at the same time. This meant I would be able to visit her home more often. Just as I expected, after her accident, my visits to her home became more frequent and we soon we became inseparable but I never acknowledged her as my best friend. I wanted to but I was scared. What if she never considered me as one? Besides I didn't know her full story. She never shared her secrets with me but I was happy and somehow all my doubts got drowned in that pool of ecstacy and new found friendship.
When Liza had doubts regarding her homework, she would call me for help. If she wanted to buy gifts or a new outfit, she would ask me to accompany her for shopping. We adventured the streets, found new spots to have great food and spend some evenings doing our homework either at her home or home. Annie was finally out of the picture. I had found someone better than her.
I don't know how it happened but Liza finally broke my shell and entered my heart. I began to imbibe her personality and somehow the introvert in me met with death as time passed and , I transformed into a volcano of positive energy. I was finally happy. I was finally able to trust someone.
But all good things has to come to an end or at least just take a temporary leave and that's exactly what happened when Liza told me that she was moving to UK. My whole world felt as though, it was being bombed by missiles. Liza was leaving soon and I couldn't prevent it.