Ch 11: As we grew together.

Friendship is not something that happens overnight. It takes time and for me it was a much slower process that is built layer by layer, moment by moment until one day, you realize that someone who was once just a classmate has become something more.

That's how it was with us.

At first, our interactions were fairly limited and stayed casual. A few exchanged words in class, an occasional comment on social media, and a handful of group discussions. We talked mostly about important stuffs and mathematics, cause she was a mathematician. But as time passed, our conversations grew longer, more frequent, and surprisingly personal.

She started opening up to me in ways she hadn't before. Or I guess, it was normal for her. Considering her extroverted nature.

"Are you free after class tomorrow, I need to ask a favour?" she texted me one evening.

I smiled at my phone, amused by her sudden question.

"Yes, I will be there," I replied.

We met that day after class and she took me to a gift shop to buy a gift for her friend. She wanted to surprise her and wanted to keep it secret from others. Likely so, they had severe grouping issue among them. The toppers were in a different section than us. And we as a group didn't have much of a positive relationship with them.

Anyway our mere getaway helped us get closer or rather bond well.

I wasn't the kind of guy who made friends easily. Most of the time, I preferred keeping to myself, drawing or writing rather than engaging in long conversations. But with her, things were different. I wanted to reply instantly, to continue every conversation, to hear more about what she thought, what she felt.

And she was beginning to let me in.

One day, after class, she sat beside me and sighed.

"You know, people always see me as this happy, outgoing girl, but sometimes I feel like I'm playing a role. Like… what if no one actually knows the real me?"

I turned to her, watching the way she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, her usual bright expression dimmed by something deeper. I never saw her like this and this philosophical question stirred up my mind.

"I think… the real you is the one who asks these kinds of questions. The one who shares them with me," I said.

She looked at me for a long moment before smiling softly and gently nodding her head

"You have a way with words, don't you," she repeated.

I gave a silent smile as if acknowledging her comment.

And just like that, we became good friends. Or perhaps started being friends. Since then our chats became more frequent, sometimes stretching late into the night. I found myself waiting for her texts, my heart racing whenever I saw her name pop up on my screen.

It felt like the start of something beautiful.