For the past few weeks now, I've been going on about a topic that I keep forgetting to address. Well, that's what's going down today.

The title makes it pretty clear. When I was just a baby, my mom brought me to a neighbor's house; they were friends, and they still are. The neighbor had a baby daughter, and my parents told me that we got along great almost immediately.

For the next few years, we grew up together, we played together, we were the bestest of friends. I remember once where I got this crazy idea from reading too many geology books (for kids), that we could dig to the center of the Earth. I "recruited" her on this mission, and right outside of our apartment building we started digging. I kept saying "we're close! We're so close!" even though the hole was less than a foot deep. Still, we had a lot of fun. According to my parents, she would only ever play with me. I, of course, played with everybody because I was just a boy who didn't know any better...but she would only play with me. Every once in a while, she would stand outside of my balcony and yell my name, and I would zoom out of the building and play with her. Other times, I would go to her house to play with her big box of toys (I was jealous of that), or play husband-and-wife, like all good little children, or try to learn piano from her, since she was getting lessons. Apparently, I learned pretty fast. We had a great time together; in fact, I think there's a picture of us kissing, but that's one of those kids' stuff that really means nothing at the end of the day. Maybe.

Still, she wasn't perfect. She had a temper, and apparently, I seem to piss her off quite frequently. According to my parents, when she gets angry, I would just become completely aloof and not pay attention to her. After a while, she'll stop simmering, and everything becomes normal. All in good fun.

Of course, life doesn't always go down the easy road. When elementry school started, she went to a different school, despite living next door. She got busy, and stopped coming to the neighborhood park that I always went to pretty much every day (I talked about this before). Once in a while, I would still go to her house, but it became much more infrequent. We were still great friends, but for now, I had other friends, and other friends who were girls that I liked. Again, just kids stuff. Still, it was apparent enough to my teacher that, during a memorable desk change (we switched sitting positions once in a while in the class), I was coincidentally seated next to my closest "girlfriend" at the time. I still remember sitting there, next to her; my little heart beating fast as I turned away from her to hide my blushing. I mean, I was eight at the time; I guess you can call it...cute?

However, she always remained a close family friend. She still lived next door, and once in a while, we still talk. Gone were the days when she used to call my name outside of my balcony and I would run down the 4 flights of stairs in a flash, but she was always there.

And then, everything changed. My mom had immigrated to Canada 3 years earlier to work out our immigration, and time was up. I was heading to Canada. I informed all of my close buds where I'm going and said my goodbyes. In fact, the class had a special get-together to wish me good luck. I even got small gifts. It's not usual for someone to leave the country, you see.

From her, I got a pocket-sized English-Chinease dictionary, and a promise that she'll write to me, and I to her...and then I left.

I was so stupid back then. In no time at all, what little Chinese I have learned started to fade away. I could still understand the spoken language and say some myself, but I almost immediately forgot how to write Chinese. So it was, when she wrote me a letter, that it would take me forever and a lot of effort to draft up a response. As time went by, I just stopped writing, and with time, she stopped as well. As far as I know, our contact was broken.

Fast forward 3 years to 2000, when I went back to China. It was during my stupidest days, I got to say. Anyway, one day, she and her family showed up at our house and invited us for dinner. She and I were left alone to play, but all we could do was sit on the couch and be silent. I still remember the tension, but being the idiot I was, any tact I had...ok, I had no tact. After a relatively quiet dinner where we pretty much didn't converse, we bid our farewell, and she was out of my life again.

We did not contact each other again for the next 6 years, but once in a while, when I had a good look at her dictionary, her gift to me, I thought about her, about the good times we had and how stupid I was to not write to her because of my inane laziness. Of course, by this time, I had started to really like girls, so I thought of her in a whole new light. I wondered about what would've happened between us if we grew up together, instead of being separated like this; or whether it would amount to anything if I wrote to her now. Either way, it was just a dream.

Then one day, her mom emailed us. I don't know whether it had happened a lot and my parents just didn't tell me, or it was one of those out-of-the-blue things. Either way, my mom soon took the hint and called her. It was more than an ordinary call however, as she used a webcam. After all these years, I saw her again. My mom gave me the phone, I tried to speak Chinese, but all I can do is mumble and giggle nervously. It seemed she was the same way. My mom told me to speak some English; I did, and she didn't understand at all, despite that fact that she was learning English at the time. Still, it was a connection. She didn't appear to be still holding a grudge, so maybe I was in the clear? Once more, nothing happened for a while. Of course, you'd know that I wouldn't be making this entry if the story ended here.

About 2 months ago, my dad returned to China because my grandparents were suffering from some health problems. While there, he also contacted  her and her family, and made her a promise, that I would aid her in her quest to learn English and help her with correcting essays and basically be a distant English tutor. It was no empty promise. Come the beginning of May, my dad returned with this piece of news, and nervously I wrote my email message to her and pressed send...the address didn't work.

Oh crap...was she still mad afterall? Did she give me the wrong address on purpose? I mean, I haven't really talked to her in 10 years, who knows what kind of person she is now? Well, as with many instances, my fears were unfounded. The address was wrong, but it was an accident. It was missing a "3". So I sent the message again, and within days, got my first email back from her. She revealed that she was going to the same school my mom taught at before she left; she revealed to me that she likes Harry Potter and gave me links to 2 Chinese HP sites; she even told me that she didn't like the Ron/Hermione couple!

During the last few weeks, we have been trading emails and, of course, essays, which helped me review my grammer as I corrected them. Apparently, she is trying to take and ace the TOFEL test, which makes it simpler for her to come to an English speaking country...or something. Either way, it's a stepping stone for that. I have been getting to know her all over again, and I like to think she's getting to know me as well. Unlike here (as far as I know), the girls and guys have their own dorm buildings, so she is not that exposed to the male gender that much. For once, a girl I like didn't have a boyfriend.

But she is not just any girl, that much is clear. There is a very simple process that I've realized that I follow when I meet a girl: I think she's hot, I get to know her, I like her personality as well, and finally I start hiding my crush by acting like the nice guy around her and helping her out in anyway I can. In that order.

She, on the other hand, entered my life waaaay before this; we have a history, but in a way, we don't. We had a great time together as kids, but after 10 years apart, it seems like we're starting anew.

What is the future for us? Well, she is taking the TOFEL test, which means she could very well end up on my doorsteps some time in the near future since the main reason to take the test is to leave China and start work in another, English-speaking country. If she does come to Canada, she'll need a place to stay, and as far as I know, we're the only "family" she has over here. What's keeping her from staying with us for a while before finding her own place? That's the fantasy anyway.

And of course, is there even a chance that she'll think of me in that way? No other girl does as far as I know, so why should she? When I was young, I thought perhaps we were made to be with each other; it was destiny. Now, everything's different; my view of the world is no longer so "romantic", but I don't want to let that past go. It was just one of those times that I think I was truly happy.

Time will tell, I suppose.