A Friend for a Lifetime

It was a really hot day during summer vacation and I was really bored, sitting home all day and doing nothing. I didn't have any books to read or anywhere to go. I was also fed up of drawing so I decided to go to the park to get some fresh air. I asked my mom if I could go to the park to play and chill and luckily she gave me permission. Me, my brother and my sister went to the park and played cricket until our cousin and his friends came. I was really glad to see my cousin. Games are usually fun with more people around but I didn't expect anyone else to show up. They all were mostly around my age. The oldest among them was three years older than me and all of them wanted to play soccer so me and my sister thought it was time for us to leave. Suddenly, he stopped me and asked if I wanted to play. I was really shocked at this question as we have almost the same culture background and we both know how much people criticized girls for hanging out with boys and vice versa. But I didn't care what people think and said yes. I told him I wasn't good at soccer but he was completely fine with it and wanted me to be his team goalie and my sister on the opposite team. His team members were really surprised too but they didn't say anything. Each of us had five players on one team. The game started and the minute he scored the first goal, I realized he was really good at this sport and had amazing skills and speed. We played continuously for one and a half hour til we decided that whoever scores the last goal wins though we were on lead as we all were drenched in sweat and needed a break. "Come on! Pass it to me," he yelled while asking his team player to pass him the soccer ball. All of the team players were playing serious as it was the last goal. His team player failed to pass him the soccer ball but he got up, took the ball and scored the last goal getting us a win. The game ended with lots of 'boos' on the losing team and 'Yay! We won,' being shouted by our team. We took a short break after that before we could start playing again. Me and my younger sister were the only girls around. Being grown in a society where girls and boys can't be friends made me feel really unacceptable and I still couldn't believe the reality but he assured my comfort and motivated me. I was standing out of his group and he suddenly caught me staring at him while I was zoned out. I really found him an interesting and amazing person. My brother has had friends of all ages and he was five years old than my brother and three years older than me. I was just looking at him for a second thinking he really played good and wanted to compliment him. Being a girl and playing soccer with boys around felt weird but also really lucky. I some how went up to him to compliment him and could see him really appreciate my comments. We both could already feel each other's vibes. That night I got a request from him on Instagram. I accepted it and we had a normal chat for a while and it really turned out good which was completely unexpected and we became instant friends. We both were from different cultures and spoke different primary languages so our friendship was really unexpected. Since that day, we almost had little conversations everyday about general things which turned out to hours of daily conversations. He would give me really good advises on anything I asked for. He would usually invite me to play soccer with him though we both knew I wasn't good at it. I was the eldest among my siblings and cousins so I needed a good role model to look up to. He told me stories from his experience to give me some valuable lessons as he already lived through the time I am living now. With the passing time, we became good friends. I started playing soccer and was mostly on his team. I wasn't a really good soccer player unlike him and his friends. He had been playing soccer for almost eight years and it was my first time when I actually took a sport seriously and played on a team. He never failed to protect the goal as well as me from being hit by the ball. Soon we got really comfortable with each other and shared almost every secret and have any type of conversation anytime and that's when we realized that we have become best friends. We started giving each other cute nicknames. With all those differences between us, we formed a special and unbreakable bond. He was a junior in college and I was a junior in high school. We often had crazy conversations for whole night and enjoyed each other's company. That's how a complete stranger became one of my priorities instantly. His friends thought I was weird but he knew the only thing was that everyone is different and so was I and he had no issue accepting this fact. He never left my side even though his friends pressurized him and asked him to end friendship with me and say me things that they wanted to say. but he clearly said no. Even in my absence, he took my side and defended me in front of his friends. We were always there for each other in all situations. With the time changing, our friendship grew deeper but with the society and culture around, we both had to keep our friendship secret. With each passing day, our bond grew stronger, our level of respect and trust grew more.