Big hearted people are always the ones who get hurt the most. Always. You know you have a good heart when you are ready to give up your self respect and ego just for the wellbeing of someone who doesn't even care. And you care so much that at the end you just end up looking stupid for caring too much. I read somewhere that, "It always rains hardest on the people who deserve the sun." And it is true.
There was a girl whom I loved more than anything on earth. I trusted her more than I'd ever trusted myself. Her name was Maye. Maye and I go way back. Maye joined my school in the middle of third grade. It was hate at first sight. Literally. There was nothing wrong with her, but I hated her for no apparent reason. The first time I saw her, she was wearing red bell bottom pants and a black full sleeved graphic tee. Her hair was so short that it made her half ponytail look like a palm tree standing on her head. She had these big square glasses on, which made her look so nerdy, the opposite of what she was. Maye had small dark brown eyes, shaped like teeny almonds. Small nose and thin lips. Her complexion was as light as paper.
Maye was totally opposite of what she looked like. She looked calm, shy and innocent. But in reality, she was loud, tomboy-ish and always electrified. We didn't get along at first, but gradually, our little undeclared rivalry started to wear off. And soon, we were inseparable.
Years passed, and our bond grew stronger. At the end of fifth grade, Maye left school for a guy named Abner who had been harassing her for the past year. I still remember balling my eyes out after school in our waiting room, when she told me that she was shifting schools in six months. I cried so much that my class teacher had to come to stop me from wailing.
Soon after she left school, our contact was beginning to subside. So I called her one afternoon to check on her, just to find out that she had started dating the fuckboy, Abner who was harassing her when she was in school. I told her that the Maye I knew, was never someone to date a fuckboy. And I received the reply that said, "Then you never knew me at all". Her words stuck to me but I didn't bother saying anything to her. But I knew my best friend Maye had changed.
A year passes by without us seeing each other or talking much. The main reason we couldn't keep much contact with each other was because Maye's mother thought that all her friends were responsible for Abner harassing Maye. But little did she knew that Maye herself was willingly dating Abner. Their little fling didn't last long though!
On the first day of sixth grade's final term, Norah, who is also Maye's cousin, gave me the news of Maye's father passing away due to cardiac arrest. I can still feel how my heart just sank after hearing the news of my best friend's father passing. I called her as soon as I went home and a few days later, along with my mom, I went to visit her. Upon visiting her, I realised that there was so much about her that I didn't knew. In the past year, she'd had her first kiss, had started smoking and vaping, had been in a few more relationships and now was dating some boy from her new school. Inside, I was so shocked but I didn't let my face express my thoughts. I was here, in a small school buried under books, and she was a popular girl in her humongous school who was living her life to the fullest. I felt so lame compared to her back then. Now that I think of it; I feel ashamed that I ever felt that way.
Here's a thing about Maye. She has a good heart. Her words are harsh but not her intentions. She would never hurt anyone. And her telling me all about her "exciting life" was never meant to make me feel "lame". It was just her telling her best friend that how much her life had changed. But only I knew that her life wasn't the only thing that had changed the past year.
After a few months, we met again on my birthday. That day, I found out that she was dating another guy... I was like... not upset, but disappointed. None of her relationships lasted for more than a few months and she was just starting to get damaged and she didn't even realise it. Yet I didn't bother to say a word about it because I knew she wouldn't take me seriously. But as her best friend I should've warned her. She was slowly becoming the person I never even imagined her to be. And I wanted to stop her from dating every other guy in her school because I didn't want her to be called a hoe. But that would just result in me looking "lame" and "childish".
Fast forward to another year later, she moved to Malaysia and our contact faded even more. But whenever she visited home, we hung out like nothing had ever changed between us. Yes sometimes I felt like I had lost the Maye I knew, but I didn't let that affect my friendship with her. After a couple of years, I invited her to my aunt's wedding and we felt like we had a the fun of our lifetimes.
Despite the changes and complications we'd faced the past few years, Maye and I were still so close. Our love for each other never changed. We trusted each other so much and our bond was so strong that it made our other friends feel left out of our group. I loved her so much. But maybe she didn't love me back as much as I thought she did...
After my aunt's wedding, I left for KSA and spent a couple of weeks there with my dad who lives there. And when I returned, my biggest nightmare came true...
