Written On Trains

Balqis X Iqbal - Aug 4, 2019

Pearly Perlis

It was a case of who had the balls to first admit.

Her name is Balqis, but people call her Ball-kiss. Because that one time a rogue ball smacked her face when she was made a benchwarmer at a futsal match.

His name is Iqbal, but people especially his mates in the rugby team, call him Kebal. Which means 'indestructible', because that's what he seemed to be.

They went to the same high school yet his days were magical, hers never theatrical. For five whole years, he was adored, she was ignored.

Their paths didn't cross until that day government announced the big exam results.

That day former students all came back to collect their As. He was expected to do well, because he went through a lot, from injuries to loss, yet the tragedies of his life had never affected his studies. She was expected to spoil the school's excellent track record, even their teachers had braced for this.

But they ended up on the stage, tied at the top to share a prize. As they both held the metre-long best student trophy and posed for the local daily's camera, they traded awkward smiles.

It's no surprise that they both ended up at the nation's top university. But what were the odds of them stepping into the same faculty, signing up for the same course and assigned to the same advisor to meet?

She expected uni to be a repeat of school, but his presence made history shy to repeat.

He expected uni to be a bore, but watching her becoming a person made his life complete.

He didn't expect her to be an opiniated loudmouth when she saw him fish out a Nano-Stick right outside their advisor's office building. She didn't expect him to cave in to curiosity over something so stupid.

"So you're bored, that's why you bought an e-ciggy?" she demanded.

"What's it to you if that's what I did?" he challenged, only to get her to keep talking to him.

"If you're still sticking that smoke-maker thing into your mouth maybe I'll smack a ball to your face and we could trade nicknames," she warned without missing a beat.

He laughed. "I forgot they called you Ball-kiss."

"Hand me that e-ciggy," she insisted, not bothering with a 'please'.

He never figured out why he did it, but as he was told, he did. He stuck his hand out and the sleek vaping device was confiscated almost mercilessly.

"Thank you," she said and left. She had to, because her courage was waning.

"Hey wait!" he called, wanting to hear more words, hell, even curses from her... but she didn't seem to feel like it. "Loved our first conversation!" he called out into the hall.

He cornered her a couple of days later.

"We're friends, right? Just gimme the e-ciggy so that I can resell it," he pleaded.

"No. You're going to use it."

"Promise I won't." His expression was soft, coy and slightly pleading.

But she was resolute. "Do I look like your girlfriend?"

"I never had one, so, no."

That silenced her for a second but she quickly rebutted. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm nobody to you so you wouldn't be so keen to keep a promise like that."

He mulled that explanation for a bit. "I know we didn't talk in school, but I know you. You're a friend now."

"You don't know me," she reacted, somewhat defensively.

"Hey you're hurting a friend's feelings," he tried to lighten her up.

"If I had wanted to hurt you I'd let you kill yourself slowly with that e-ciggy. Which by the way, I've posted it to my home," she announced, ready to walk away.

"You sent it to Perlis!"

Her jaw dropped. "You know I'm from Perlis?"

He grinned. "I know your mom's a doctor. That's why you snatched the e-ciggy."

To which she slowly mumbled, "And I know your mom died of cancer, that's why I got so angry when I saw you holding it."

They both didn't say anything for a full minute.

Other students passing by thought the two just had a lovers' quarrel over where to eat.

"So you've heard about me huh," he said unnecessarily, knowing that the whole school had been talking about how he scored so well despite having to care for and then losing a family.

"God knows how you heard anything at all about me," she quipped.

"I talked to a senior about you before... In high school," he finally admitted.

"Why? What for?"

"Well you didn't have friends our age. You were only friends with seniors."

"More like only the seniors would talk to me. I don't know why but after Form 3 none spoke to me."

He wasn't keen to talk about the past, so he picked the most important piece of history. "I asked the seniors about you, because... I have a crush on you."

She wasn't keen on grammar but a discussion on tenses suddenly became necessary. "You have... Or you had...?"

"Oh come on Pearly Perlis. You heard me," said the guy who at that moment appeared more like his nickname's opposite.

"How come you never said anything?" she whispered, thinking high school would have been half the hell if he did.

"Haven't you got a crush before? Confessing isn't easy." His voice was equally soft, revealing how hard it was for him to gain enough balls to admit it.

"So now you still want your e-ciggy?" she inquired a few moments after getting over her shock.

"What I really want, is to know how you feel about this," he answered, pointing to himself.

She smiled. For such a bright guy he still needed some help with spelling. "I thought two days ago I made it clear. You're a guy worth saving."

P/s: Wrote this as I wait for an email from a friend in JKT. But he and family said yesterday's quake didn't rattle them a bit.