You Had To Be There
There is a theory that says if you have been friends for over 7 years, that person will be your friend for life. #thebestestfriends celebrate their 8-year milestone with this lengthy poem documenting their friendship.
2007.
With a flick of my hair I went up to her & I said "Hi, I'm Sheril."
And with her eyes cast downwards to avoid awkwardness she said "hiI'mJo."
Getting to know her was difficult because she didn't say much.
I secretly hoped she didn't take all of our staring to heart.
She was really cute though and so seemingly carefree,
Until one of our classmates asked her where to put the batteries,
It was like a science experiment had gone wrong real fast,
As she told our classmate to shove the batteries up her arse.
It was about then that I knew this cili padi & I were going to be good friends,
Little had I known how good back then.
2008.
I spent every day in her house, sometimes we’d just end up sleeping,
After school we’d go to Old town and eat chap fan
And then head to Andrew Choo for tuition that was somewhat fun
She had this habit of listening to music while the teacher was teaching,
And because of that, this happened once in tuition during History,
The teacher said he had the trial exam papers for KL schools only,
She called him stupid and when he turned around and asked her what she said
She pointed at her friend and said “She’s stupid!” instead.
2009.
I am aimless & she's taking a course in Medical Imaging,
"I want to tell people when they are going to die" she said while sniggering,
On the plus side her college was a bus ride away,
She'll call her mother most days to ask she could stay,
Then I got into university & moved to Shah Alam,
Where she faithfully became my proxy human alarm.
The amount of calls she made were infinite,
But I always said "give me 5 more minutes."
2010.
Early this year, I had lost my grandfather,
She wrote me a blog post to tell me how much I mean to her
She also said “I’m here”
And somehow that made everything easier.
In the middle of the year, in between the chaos and doing nothing,
We had come up with a semi solid plan,
After a phone conversation at 2am
We took a bus to Malacca the next evening,
Life Is A Highway was the theme song.
“One day here, the next day gone”
2011.
The university had decided to kick me out,
For speaking truths & raising racial doubt,
She too had stopped her diploma course,
Not by choice but by familial force.
So there we were, both lifeless again but less dumb,
Groping our way through life and then some.
There was a new man for me & some odd jobs too,
She took her time to figure out what she wanted to do.
2012.
We found out David Cook was coming to Singapore
So we planned a trip to the country next door,
We had won passes to meet him,
And when he wished her an early happy birthday,
Her face was plastered with a permanent grin,
It was like a dream come true I’d say,
Throughout that whole time, we screamed way too loud,
And I don’t think we ever came down from that cloud.
2013.
We kick off the year at a fun fair in PD,
We watch the sun rise on a beach & sing Kumbaya under a tree,
I end up on a different beach in a different country that same year,
But even far away it still felt like she was near.
She would Skype & countdown the days till I returned,
And she watched Grey's Anatomy while I got sun burned.
I came back & she'd come over and talk about One Tree Hill,
I'd sleep, wake up & she would be storying me still.
2014.
She flew here there and everywhere,
Her new life goal was to move to Sagada and marry a Pinoy there,
When she was in Sagada, she had an Asthma attack,
And had to be admitted in a hospital for the first time,
At that point, we all just wanted her to come back,
She came back and everything was fine,
A few months later, she had to be admitted again for dengue,
Where she spent all her time watching dramas on TVB
2015.
We see the dawn of new prospects & crossroads,
And we realized we've been friends a total of eight years,
We now have our own language of codes,
And can decipher each other's thoughts and fears.
From here on out there'll be more tales to add to the book,
More days of getting the wind knocked out of us by the albums of David Cook,
But through the years our friendship has survived no worse for wear,
But its just of those things where you had to be there.
2007.
With a flick of my hair I went up to her & I said "Hi, I'm Sheril."
And with her eyes cast downwards to avoid awkwardness she said "hiI'mJo."
Getting to know her was difficult because she didn't say much.
I secretly hoped she didn't take all of our staring to heart.
She was really cute though and so seemingly carefree,
Until one of our classmates asked her where to put the batteries,
It was like a science experiment had gone wrong real fast,
As she told our classmate to shove the batteries up her arse.
It was about then that I knew this cili padi & I were going to be good friends,
Little had I known how good back then.
2008.
I spent every day in her house, sometimes we’d just end up sleeping,
After school we’d go to Old town and eat chap fan
And then head to Andrew Choo for tuition that was somewhat fun
She had this habit of listening to music while the teacher was teaching,
And because of that, this happened once in tuition during History,
The teacher said he had the trial exam papers for KL schools only,
She called him stupid and when he turned around and asked her what she said
She pointed at her friend and said “She’s stupid!” instead.
2009.
I am aimless & she's taking a course in Medical Imaging,
"I want to tell people when they are going to die" she said while sniggering,
On the plus side her college was a bus ride away,
She'll call her mother most days to ask she could stay,
Then I got into university & moved to Shah Alam,
Where she faithfully became my proxy human alarm.
The amount of calls she made were infinite,
But I always said "give me 5 more minutes."
2010.
Early this year, I had lost my grandfather,
She wrote me a blog post to tell me how much I mean to her
She also said “I’m here”
And somehow that made everything easier.
In the middle of the year, in between the chaos and doing nothing,
We had come up with a semi solid plan,
After a phone conversation at 2am
We took a bus to Malacca the next evening,
Life Is A Highway was the theme song.
“One day here, the next day gone”
2011.
The university had decided to kick me out,
For speaking truths & raising racial doubt,
She too had stopped her diploma course,
Not by choice but by familial force.
So there we were, both lifeless again but less dumb,
Groping our way through life and then some.
There was a new man for me & some odd jobs too,
She took her time to figure out what she wanted to do.
2012.
We found out David Cook was coming to Singapore
So we planned a trip to the country next door,
We had won passes to meet him,
And when he wished her an early happy birthday,
Her face was plastered with a permanent grin,
It was like a dream come true I’d say,
Throughout that whole time, we screamed way too loud,
And I don’t think we ever came down from that cloud.
2013.
We kick off the year at a fun fair in PD,
We watch the sun rise on a beach & sing Kumbaya under a tree,
I end up on a different beach in a different country that same year,
But even far away it still felt like she was near.
She would Skype & countdown the days till I returned,
And she watched Grey's Anatomy while I got sun burned.
I came back & she'd come over and talk about One Tree Hill,
I'd sleep, wake up & she would be storying me still.
2014.
She flew here there and everywhere,
Her new life goal was to move to Sagada and marry a Pinoy there,
When she was in Sagada, she had an Asthma attack,
And had to be admitted in a hospital for the first time,
At that point, we all just wanted her to come back,
She came back and everything was fine,
A few months later, she had to be admitted again for dengue,
Where she spent all her time watching dramas on TVB
2015.
We see the dawn of new prospects & crossroads,
And we realized we've been friends a total of eight years,
We now have our own language of codes,
And can decipher each other's thoughts and fears.
From here on out there'll be more tales to add to the book,
More days of getting the wind knocked out of us by the albums of David Cook,
But through the years our friendship has survived no worse for wear,
But its just of those things where you had to be there.
- SherJo
2.52am, 18th September 2015
Ghetto HQ & Kelana Jaya
SB is a conflicted soul of sorts, who is mad enough to go chase after what she really loves as opposed to conform to society and her mother's idea of a successful person. She prays she makes it in life, because she will not be able to tolerate the nagging that would follow if she doesn't. Her inspiration comes from everything around her, as well as made up situations in her head. Good luck distinguishing between the two.
JN is the one who doesn't take chances, but she's working on that. She's powering through life, one day at a time. Even with all that life throws her, you'll always see her with a smile. She's a hopeless romantic, hopeless beyond repair. You may say she's a dreamer, but she's got her feet on the ground.
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