10 years ago.. to the date!

10 years ago, to the date, was his 21st birthday.

As usual, I was among the first to wish him. I had given his birthday card to Dayah for her to pass to him (as usual haha..) and when he received it, he text me about it.

That afternoon, he told me that his housemates planned to go celebrate his birthday at Pizza Hut (mase tu mane ade Pizza Hut in Pt Buntar.. you had to go to Megamall for the nearest pizza joint) and jokingly asked if I wanted to go along.. KNOWING full well that I won't coz

i. Housemates dia of course la semua lelaki.. segan lahh
ii. I didn't really go out that much those days.. prefered to stay in my room *though not for the sake of studying la jugak)
iii. Since we don't talk that much outside of our emails, I didn't really know what I'd do if I had to talk face to face with him hahah..

I forgot all about it till that night when he text me that night telling me he had bought some pizza for me and Lin along with a big slice of his birthday cake. Since he stayed outside at Taman Pekaka instead of the hostel, it was agreed that Din (one of his closest friends who was also my coursemate) would stop by the girls hostel to send the food to me.

Around 10pm, Din called to tell me he was waiting at the parking lot so I donned my sweater and hijab and went down to meet him.

Dari jauh Din dah sengih and I knew something was up..

As I neared him, his grin turned Chesire Cat-like and I was like, "What?!?!"

Din: Ohh.. cube bgtau kat sy, kenape dia suruh sy kasik ni kat awak je?

Me: Mane de.. sy ni gi makan skali ngan Lin lah ni..

Din: Tp dia sebut name awak sorg je..

Me: *silently cursing IM for his idiocy.. dah tau budak ni suke suspect bkn².. pi cari pasal camtu sape suruh?*

Din: Jawab cepat, kalau tak sy tak bg *smbil sengih nmpk gigi yg bakal je berterabur klau I was a boxer!*

Me: Hishh.. mane ade la.. dia saje la nak share. Kitorg kan baik ngan dia..

In the end, tak larat nak bergaduh ngan Din, I just took the box from his motorcycle and started to head back upstairs when he called me again.. Once again I was like, "Whaaatttt?" (tapi kali ni keras skit kot sbb tak larat nak layan)

Din: Dia suruh sy kasik satu bende lain jugak kat awak..

Me: Ape dia?

Know what he handed to me?

A RING!

I burst out laughing, which then wasn't how I usually acted.

Bongok tul budak ni.. punye nak korek nye, sanggup dia pinjam cincin sape² ntah..

Me: Awak ingat sy tatau ke ape awak nak buat ni, Din oiiiiiii. Sudah² la nak korek citer kitorg, kitorg kawan baik je pun.. takde lebey²!

..and then I left Din without even looking back.. Tak mau menggalakkan lagi suspicion dia.

I didn't tell him about what Din had done, but the next day he frantically smsed me apologizing for what Din had done. He had no idea.

I told him not to worry. I know him and he knows me. We were good friends.. bestfriends even. Close enough that we'd never fall in love with each other.. ever!

Guess the joke was on us then, huh?

Or at least, only on me..

 ~ Happy birthday, IM! ~