Autobiography of an Ordinary Person

The Past

Std. V

First day of secondary school

I was a new student and sat in the bus alone. The bus halted on the last stop and a girl entered,panting heavily.Since it was the last stop, all the places were occupied. She greeted the bus driver and started finding a place to sit. On her way she was greeted by many of her then friends. She came and sat next to me.

She greeted me in a bubbly and an enthusiastic tone, "Hi, I'm Rhea. Are you a new student? Haven't seen last year?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm a new student. Hi my name is Shirley." I told her.

Her eyes started shining.

"Shirley, you mean the name Aishwarya Rai has in Josh?" She asked.

I chuckled. "Yes that name. Let me guess you like that name?"

"I am in love with that name. I told my parents to change my name. But they didn't," She frowned," but it's okay now because I have a friend whose name is Shirley." She said shrugging.

I stared at her. It was not even five minutes and she already considered me her friend. I smiled at her and thanked her for being my friend.

"If you don't mind me asking....why were you so out of breath?"

She laughed before replying.

"Oh thats nothing.Same old.I was late again this morning.I can't be on time if my life depends on it.So is my dad.My mom is just fed up of the two of us.He was supposed come with me & go for a morning jog.But both of us were late.So..." Rhea ranted.

"Oh" I replied.

"Oh by the way you are in which class?" She asked.

"C. What about you?"

"Bingo. I am in same class. We will have fun together." She winked.

And true to her words we had lots of fun together. In no time we became very good friends. Rhea used to get into trouble for her pranks in school. Teachers used to send her to principal's office every now and then. Our principle was an awesome lady,Ms. Cecilia D'souza. She was a plump lady with motherly warmth. She loved Rhea a lot because she always topped in her class, so she always got away from her mischief unharmed.

Our first friend in V std. was Shrishti. We were good friends then. By the end of the year I had became best friends with Rhea and Shrishti and others too. To no one's surprise Rhea topped that year.

The next year I and Rhea got separate classes. Shrishti and I were in same class. That is the year everything started changing and Rhea changed.

It was the first day after summer vacations and Rhea's dad had come to drop her as usual. . Rhea was breathing heavily from that I knew that she was late again and had to run to get on time. She entered the bus and I waved at her father. In a year of our friendship I had known that Rhea's parents were pretty cool. They were proud of her, but then who wouldn't. Rhea came in and greeted me in her chirpy tone.

She plopped down beside me and said, "Happy anniversary Shirley."

I was confused about what was she saying. She must have seen the confused look on my face and answered my unspoken question, "A year ago today was the day that we became friends. Remember?"

I actually slapped myself, how could I forget?

"I'm so sorry Rhea I forgot. I'm really very sorry." I told her.

"It's ok, Shirley. Chill. It's not that we are dating and you must remember it. It's ok." She said with a smile. I thanked my stars that how on the earth I had been so lucky to get a friend like her. I hugged her tightly. She was a bit shocked but later returned the hug.