On our favourite midget

If there's one thing that one learns upon coming to uni, apart from the root causes of population growth in England in the 18th and 19th centuries - Freshers' week my ass, I had lectures this morning at 9!, one thing apart from one's way around tiny medieval towns full of old university buildings and crazy bikers, one thing apart from just how expensive Marks and Spencer's is, that one thing is the value of true friendship.

I was always one of those people who never particularly fit in any friendship group. I always got along well with most people, but I never got along with anyone well enough to consider them anything other than people to pass time with. The problem is, I was usually a little too mature, a little too intelligent for people. So I ended up getting a lot of respect, some dislike, and generally very little love.

But that was OK, because I'd rather be respected for who I am any day than pretend to be someone I'm not just to get approval.

I wasn't too worried anyway because I figured uni would be full of people like me and then I'd finally be able to have a bunch of a few close friends, as well as a larger group of people I could simply have fun with.

And then, I met Pan. Pan came to my school 4 years ago. She must have been very lonely and very angry because of all she had to leave behind. It must have taken a huge effort to manage to make friends, because it's always so hard to go to new schools (I've never done it myself, except for this week, and it's hard enough as it is with nobody knowing each other; it must be near-impossible to join high school cliques). I never noticed any of this. Pan was one of the new students. I was busy passing time with my not-quite-friends.

But Pan and I had a mutual friend. Our mutual friend, who will now have the dubious honour of being referred to with her real name, Thais, was in fact about to leave. I hadn't been friends with Thais either for a long time, but one day our maths teacher moved her to sit next to me for reasons that I forget, and we got talking and realised that we had a very similar sense of humour and everything.

Thais was also friends with Pan, and the week before she left, Pan and I went out with her quite often and generally spent time with her, and hence with each other. Sometimes, Thais would randomly announce: 'You two are going to be best friends.' Pan and I would exchange looks and smile uncomfortable smiles. Who knows what Pan was thinking. I thought: 'I don't know Pan at all. She must be weirded out that Thais is saying this. And so am I.'

OK, OK, my inner monologue is not quite so boring, it's usually liberally sprinkled with hilarious little jokes and comments, but you get the idea.

Anyway, one day, a couple of days before Thais left, I went and sat next to her and Pan in economics. I don't think I'll ever forget that lesson. It turned out that Pan and I had uncannily similar interests; we must have been the only two people in our school who were into fanfiction. And for some reason, in that 1-hour lesson, we actually told each other about that. It's not something you go trumpeting around to semi-strangers, you know!

Before we even knew it, Pan and I had become inseparable. And the rest is history.

It was Pan's birthday 5 days ago. I'd promised her a post, but I've been very busy pretending to enjoy freshers' week (parts of which I actually did enjoy, but would it be very nerdy to say that I enjoyed this morning's 9 am lecture more?), socialising and generally having very little time for myself. But I have realised something; that true friends are the hardest thing to find. I thought uni would provide a bunch of people that I could pick and choose from. Apparently not. Apparently, being in one of the world's best unis does not mean that all the people are nice, and friendly, and mature. Apparently, it just means that they're all very intelligent. But clearly, intelligence is not enough.

And that's why I thank my lucky stars that I have Pan. No matter what happens, no matter who pisses me off, no matter what people around me are like, Pan's there to be my best friend. It's entirely OK for me to be myself with Pan; I don't have to try to make her laugh (she's so silly that she'll laugh anyway), I don't have to try to make her like me. I know she doesn't try! She's such a bitch sometimes, I don't know why I even bother with her!

OK, well, I do know why I bother with her. It's because I get to go to India every now and then. And who doesn't want to go to Incredible India?

So, happy belated birthday, Pan. Thank your parents for having had sex! And thank you for being so adorable.


PS: Pan and I share other interests apart from fanfiction. Like, uh, for example Veronica Mars. And books. And Bollywood. All very geeky. On the other hand, Pan likes Snickers. EEEEEW!