Dear Girl Next Door (Expanded)

Dear Girl Next Door

Hey Wandering Reader!

This is the original/expanded version of the story that I wrote for the #NotADayGoesBy contest.

There are some minor changes in the plot.

Comment what you think about this! If you enjoyed it then don't forget to Vote and Share! Thank you 😄

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You once asked me if I remembered the day we met. I'd said I didn't. Well, your fantasy of us becoming instant friends was so beautiful that I didn't have the heart to break it.

I don't remember the exact date but I can still inhale the smell of the earth as I watched you bring that earthworm closer and closer to your mouth. So like your average 3-year-old I did the only thing I could think of. I swatted at it. The worm successfully flew out of your hand. But you didn't care because you ran straight to your mummy, crying about how the boy at the park pushed you.

Here's a day you remember and I don't. You said you were standing in front of my door when I came home from the hospital. I had pushed past you and headed for the bathroom. You didn't know whether to stop me when I picked up my electric razor and shaved off all my hair. "It's going to fall off anyway," I had said. The next day you came with a permanent marker and drew poop emojis all over my head.

Honestly, I was mad. Mad at you acting as if it hadn't been months since you'd been in my room. Mad at you laughing with me as if we still did this everyday. I thought you came back because of pity. To be fair, we hadn't talked since February.

Forget about talking, we'd even stopped looking at each other. God, it was so awkward. We came out of our houses at the exact same time every morning, went down the stairs while staring at our feet and stood at the bus stop in complete silence till the bus arrived. We couldn't avoid each other even if we wanted to.

Can you blame me after what happened? For you, it was just ditching our video game marathon but for me it was the worst Valentine's Day ever.

I had bought you a teddy bear, a box of chocolates and a bouquet of roses (pink, because you like it more than red). I was going to give them to you right before you went home so that I wouldn't miss spending the entire day with you, just in case. Do you know what I was going to say?

How would you? You were too busy uploading pictures of your group outing on Instagram. People in the comments were saying you and some guy from section 3 were a thing now.

You know, I was hoping it was just pity. I couldn't stand the thought of you telling everyone in school that you were just being 'supportive' in my 'time of need'. Or fussing over me in front of my relatives. Or sitting there, listening to our entire building calling you a good girl for helping me get through this.

But you did none of that. You ignored everyone, sat in my room and played Call of Duty with me.

It wasn't even about you ditching me for one day. We'd been coming to that bridge for a long while. Your time was yours but I wanted all of it. And I refused to make time for you whenever you demanded it.

Aren't we the silliest? Still fighting over who gets to play with whom and when. Scared of losing a friendship we can no longer maintain.

But how can we lose something when it lives next door? You've been here for me everyday whether you knew it or not. I wish I could've continued doing the same for you.

This is me saying thank you. Since we were 3, not a single day has gone by without you. Now you don't let the sun set till you've made sure I've laughed at least once. You're suffocating me and I love it. I don't know how these days might have passed without you.

I always wondered why you only sent a text after Valentine's instead of just talking to me. I guess for the same reason I'm writing you this letter instead of saying it all to your face.

Love,

Your Best Friend

P.S. -- The teddy, chocolates and bouquet are in my almirah, behind that purple jacket you always called ugly. But throw away the flowers. They must have died by now.