ALIENSKIN

Alienskin: Hi
rainKisses^: Please say something interesting, or I am leaving.
Alienskin: 26/m/kl
rainKisses^: You call that interesting??

This is how I got to know James in IRC eons ago. As you can see, I am one helluva bitch with a stick perpetually stuck in my ass.

I couldn’t remember the entire conversation though and the numerous conversations after that. We met after two weeks.

He was wary about meeting a net friend after a traumatizing episode with mangoes. (Something to do with the date: home-cooked food, something comfortable, jazzy music, lavender aromatherapy, trying to feed him with sliced mangoes using a fork, fake migraine, etc… well, you get the picture).

He was worried that I might do the same psychotic stuffs to him. Of course I didn’t. He looked like my dead uncle, for Christ’s sake.

On the other hand, I was suffering from an acute inferiority complex. Worried that he might not like me when he sees me, we made a pack.

If we don’t like each other’s face – we will go for chicken rice near my college - so, I could cry for help if need be, or go catch a movie – so we don’t have to talk.

We did neither.

We ended up having popiahs, char kueh teow, grilled fish, etc in Desa Setapak together with my room mate and my other net friend who showed up uninviting, and had a blast.

Later, we went to fetch Ann, No. 1 fan, and hit the Roof, Bangsar. We chatted till wee hours in the morning – and went back home – and chatted again on the internet till 6 a.m.

This friendship lasted eight years.

It is truly a blessing to have him as a friend.

Happy Birthday, James.