3 years later.

We are late. Again.

And it's not because of me, of course. 

It's been five minutes since I called Ian to help him wake up from his beauty sleep. I can't even ring his bell. He turns it off before going to sleep (I've told him infinite times not to do so). And it's not like I can call his mom up and complain. She would be busy attending to the numerous patients she gets at the clinic every day. 

"Ian I'm counting to ten and if you don't bring your ass down here, I'm going without you," I shout, and try to peek into his room on the second floor. 

The words 'without you' have the desired effect on him as he jerks up on his bed and scrambles to the floor to pick up his two-day-old clothes--to wear them again. Glancing at my watch which ticks to six fifty-five, I pace back and forth on the sleek porch of Ian's not-so-small house. Because Ian's mother is a doctor and runs her own clinic, she could afford the only duplex in the neighborhood. Others are just small single-family homes, including mine. 

"Fuck this! It's just the first week of senior year, and we are getting late as usual." I yell at the footsteps that thrum down the stairs. "Don't you remember our pledge? You made it!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry-" Ian rushes out of the door, one leg dangling in the air to shove his foot inside his black converse. "I'm really sorry. My phone went out and so did the alarm."

"You don't have a damn charger?" I frown. It's the twentieth time that I've heard his phone died because of a low battery.

"I have them. But I always forget." He brings out his cycle from the grassy backyard. "C'mon now. Let's get going. We will be late."

"We already are!" 

Ian giggles as we start cycling towards school. He loves it when I'm pissed off. Especially when I'm annoyed about us being late every single day. And it's always because he can't wake up on time.

By the time we reach the school parking area, it's past seven. "Shit, we're ten minutes late."

"That's fine. Let's just skip the first lecture." Ian is as nonchalant as an owl.

I slap his head from behind while he parks his bike. "We've taken AP Macroeconomics, you dumbo. It's hard as it is and you're saying to skip classes."

"It's hard for you, not for me!" Ian unconsciously pouts while rubbing his head.

"Fine then. I'll not wait for you from now on. Come alone and go back alone. Ya?" I say it to his face and stride away. But seconds later, I have him on my arm, pulling on my lavender hoodie sleeve.

"Aw, Mats is angry with me? I'm sor-r-y-y-y." He trails off. 

I swat away his hand. "Enough is enough. My mom always tells me to leave you alone one day and go to school by myself. Only then you will realize to respect your alarm, charge your phone, and wake up early. But I'm the idiot to always wait for you."

"You know I'm trying to wake up early but I just can't."

"You can't because you're busy chatting with Jia and Matilda."

"No, actually it was Zoya."

I stop dead in my tracks. "Who's she now? How many girls are you leading on?"

"I'm not leading anyone on." He shrugs. "They're just one of the many situationships I've had."

I groan and look anywhere but the amused face of Ian the Great. The trees sway like my hair with the strong winds that pass by us. There are hardly any students outside the school campus. And the ones who are, are late like us or the 'rogues' of the school who refuse to attend any lectures just so they could be labeled as the 'bad boys/bad girls' like in books and movies.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll follow our pledge to be always on time from tomorrow." Ian pinches his skin on the neck.

"You said that yesterday."

"But I didn't make a promise."

I groan, scratching my brow. "You're so annoying."

Ian laughs and locks his arms around my neck. "Am I? I am, I guess. But you still wait for me every day." He looks up at me with his sapphire green eyes, round and big like saucers. He is just as small as he was when I met him three years back.

I can't help but smile and ruffle his already messed-up blob of hair. "You always know how to get people around."

He shakes his head. "Only you. You just need one pickup line and some flirty smiles to blush like a tomato."

"Huh! What nonsense!" I remove his hands and turn away. Because his words are true. I blush really easily.

"Aww, you're turning red?" Ian tries to turn me around but I don't budge. The next moment, he jumps on my back and curls his arms and legs around me. 

"What the fuck--"

He kisses my cheek hard. "You're so fucking cute." And goes on kissing it, making me squeeze my eyes shut.

"Contain your gayness Ian because not everyone at this school likes it." Someone teases from behind making Ian stop with his sloppy smooches. He gets off me and bolts to the voice that interrupted him. 

"Ahhh you came back!!" Ian and Ananya hug each other as if they have not seen each other for ten years. Ananya was only away for ten days for her trip to France. I stand there rubbing my cheek while staring at the childhood besties. 

The sun that peeks out of the clouds makes Ananya's sweat glisten on her dark sandy skin. Her squeals are louder than Ian but her hair matches his-- short, frizzy, black. I had to stand there for more than five minutes before Ananya even noticed me. They had to do their handshake which takes two minutes to complete.

"Oh hello, my best friend's boyfriend!" Ananya slaps my sturdy shoulder. "What's up?"

I look up. "It's just sky. And I'm not anyone's boyfriend. Wait, where's my hug? Am I not special enough because I didn't meet you when we were in nappies?"

Ananya pulls me in a hug. "Aww when did you come a whiny bitch?"

"From the time I met your bestie."

She throws her head back to laugh. "Of course, Ian passes on his best qualities to others."

"You guys just underestimate me. I'm more than a whiny bitch." The said bitch glares at us.

"Whatever guys, let's just head on. We're late." I get back into a serious mode and push forward both Ananya and Ian. 

"Hold up! It's just ten minutes before this lecture ends. You wanna go in just to write down homework?" Ananya asks.

"What the--? It's just ten minutes?" I tug at my hair. "I hate you, Ian." I stride away from the two laughing monkeys. I never realize how much time goes by whenever I am with Ian.

And even though I met Ananya at the same time as Ian--as they were best friends from childhood--I feel closer to Ian more. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we are two boys and Ananya is a girl which is why we could bond so fast. I mean I'm the most impatient person in my whole family. I don't even toast my bread because my toaster is too old and pops very late. And so if I can wait for Ian even when knowing he's going to be late, it tells a lot. It's just been three years.

But this is just me. I bet Ian prioritizes Ananya more.

I look back and see them laughing on their way towards me. Sometimes I wish I was his nappie buddy too.

***