It started like any other Monday morning.
Ling tugged at the strap of her backpack as she stepped out of her house, earphones in place, music turned up, and heart set on annoying one particular person: Orm.
Across the narrow street of their quiet neighborhood, the door to a sleek, gray townhouse opened just like clockwork and right on schedule. Orm, ever punctual, ever polished, stepped out.
Her university president pin was gleaming on her blazer, and her coffee was already perfectly brewed in a stainless tumbler. She didn’t need to look up to know who else was stepping out.
Ling grinned. “Ay,Wow” Ling called out, yanking out one earbud. "Didn’t know the queen wakes up this early.”
Orm barely turned her head. “Didn’t know they let clowns out of the circus on weekdays.”
“Oh, we get special passes when we live next to royalty.”
The two had grown up this way: sharing a street, sharing a sidewalk, and sharing mutual distaste that had never quite faded, even after childhood had turned to teenage years, and now into the brief sliver of adulthood. Orm, now the face of her university’s student council and known for speeches that went viral and clean-up drives that drew sponsors.
Ling, the chaos at the neighboring school, always with mismatched socks, always caught sneaking into art classes she wasn’t enrolled in, always alive with mischief. They walked in sync, unwillingly. Every morning, same time. The same path for the first 12 minutes since both of them dont have cars yet, they need to walk outside their village and wait for busride going to their separate University. To anyone watching, it looked like a routine. To them, it was war.
“So, President Orm,” Ling teased, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “Gonna give another ten-minute speech about the importance of punctuality while I watch from across the street, late and chewing Pan de Regla?”
Orm shot her a look. “You’d choke on it one day, hopefully.”
“You’d save me though,” Ling quipped without missing a beat. “Heroic and all that.”
Orm looked at her, deadpan. “Only if there’s a camera nearby. For PR.”
Ling burst out laughing. She always did. For all of Orm’s sharp tongue, she never missed a beat. It was a kind of rhythm they hated to admit they liked.
Well, people often remember special things and occurrences that happened to them, especially those “first” times.
Ling had a friend who knew exactly where and when she met her girlfriend, when was their first kiss, heck, even the first time that they held hands.
People like to remember those momentous events and celebrate them together with their loved ones, but unfortunately for Ling, she couldn’t exactly pinpoint when it happened. She just found herself one day feeling like everything felt right..Her thoughts felt calmer, hearts grow softer and the craziest part was she's getting excited to wake up everyday knowing she got her twelve minutes alone with her beautiful neighbor.
You see, she’d known Orm Kornnaphat, the ice princess, ever since the world began. Her house was only separated by a fence wall, and in their neighbourhood, everyone knew everything, especially your neighbor's business.
Fortunately for her, their mothers were best of friends. They’d been with each other through every milestone, so her mother, and Orm’s mom hoped the same for them. For Ling and Orm to be friends, especially that they’d been born only weeks apart. And as much as Ling wanted to grant her mom and beloved Aunt’s wishes… she just couldn’t.
