Chapter 1: The Gang of Four

“Mummy, I don’t want to go to school.”

Those were words I never said.

School wasn’t just a place for me. It was where everything happened — laughter, fights, secrets, and the kind of memories that don’t fade easily. It was my stage, even before I knew I was performing.

I was just two years old when my parents met Catherine’s parents. Same nursery school, same chaotic mornings, same tiny chairs and crayons. What started as polite conversations between parents slowly turned into something deeper — they became friends.

And without even realizing it, we did too.

Catherine and Kay were my first constants. We didn’t “become” friends — we simply were. From nursery to kindergarten, we were inseparable. Three tiny humans who believed the world was as small as our classroom and as big as our imagination.

Then came first grade.

That’s when Mathew and Dhruv entered our lives.

Five of us. A complete circle. Or at least, that’s what it looked like from the outside.

Because somehow, even though Dhruv was always there, it never felt like he belonged the way the rest of us did. Not in a bad way — just… distant. Like a character in a story who never got enough lines.

But the rest of us?

We were chaos.

Especially me and Mathew.

Our mothers were best friends — the kind who spoke for hours and laughed too loudly. And somehow, that energy passed down to us. Me and Mathew were exactly like them, just smaller and louder.

Everyone called us Tom and Jerry.

We fought over everything. Who got the window seat. Who cheated in a game. Who started the argument. Honestly, I don’t even remember most of the reasons now.

But I remember the feeling.

The comfort of knowing that no matter how big the fight was, we’d be talking again the next day like nothing happened.

Those fights weren’t cracks in our friendship.

They were proof of how strong it was.

Until sixth grade, we were everything friendship was supposed to be. No overthinking. No distance. No replacements.

Just us.