It was a regular autumn day. Gold walked out of her class, lost in thought. The mild breeze blew a short strand of hair in front of her eyes. She swept back her hair irritatedly. She hated whenever her hair came all over her face like this. Gold was a college student, very keen on her studies and a favourite of all the teachers. She was of a fair complexion and had long black hair that reached till her waist. Her parents were immigrants from India but now they had acquired the citizenship in England. Gold was born in Southampton. She was a tomboy sort of girl. She was smart, sassy and independent.
Gold saw a tall, dark haired boy walking towards her and her face lit up immediately. It was her best friend, Harry Styles.
'Harold!' she called out his name and waved to him. Harry saw her and his handsome face broke into a dimpled smile.
'Where have you been all day?' he pouted at Gold.
'Oh, I was in the college only! In the lectures, as usual. What about you, Styles?' she said grinning at him.
'I was in the lectures as well but you could have at least come for lunch,' he snapped back at her.
'Whoa boy! Calm down. I was completing my notes for the next class,' she said.
'So, you skipped lunch altogether?' he yelled.
'Yeah. So, one can skip a meal once in a while. What's the big deal in that?' she yelled back at him.
'Jesus, Gold! You are impossible!' he threw up his hands in air.
'Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say,' she said sarcastically.
'Now, if you're done being sassy, let's go get something to eat,' he said in a somewhat softer tone.
'Alright,' she gave in as she was feeling the mice running in her belly.
'So, where do you want to eat?' he asked her.
'Let's go get some pizza. I am starving,' she answered.
'Okay, as you say,' They went to a Pizzeria near the campus. It was one of her favourite places.
'What shall we order?' she asked him, raising her eyebrows.
'Pizza, duh!' he giggled at her.
'Very smart of you Mr. Styles,' she said laughing.
The waiter appeared to take their order.
'Two medium tomato onion pizza with extra cheese,' Harry ordered for them both.
'Anything else, sir?' the waiter asked politely.
'Yes. Add one coke, too,' she said sweetly to the waiter.
'Sure, miss,' the waiter nodded.
'How many times do I have to tell you that soda is not good for your health, Gold?' he asked her angrily.
'Aww... Chill out man! It's not gonna kill me or something like that,' she replied to him cheekily.
'Don't talk about dying! You know that I hate it when you talk about dying,' he said a little too harshly.
'Hey, I am sorry. I promise I won't talk about it. Smile a little now,' she said, placing her hand over his.
'Good,' he replied curtly and gave her a small smile.
Harry loved his best friend Gold but he hadn't told her that because he didn't want to ruin their friendship. They had known each other since they were kids. They lived next door. There is an interesting story of how they became friends. One day, Gold lost her teddy bear, Mr. Scotty in the backyard. Her mother threw it out as she was irritated of the teddy bear as Gold took it everywhere with her all day. Her mother, Mrs. Patel wanted to throw it in the dustbin that was lying outside the backyard but somehow she missed it and it landed straight into the neighbour's backyard. A little boy was playing there and it landed beside him. He picked it up and examined it. He had never seen it before. He thought the teddy bear had landed out of the sky and it was a gift for him from the God. He took it and put it along with his toys.
Meanwhile, Gold was searching for his beloved Mr. Scotty. She looked everywhere in the house, in the backyard, and in the postbox, also. But she couldn't find her teddy bear. Her mother was seeing all this but she didn't say a word.
'Mummy, have seen Mr. Scotty? I can't find him,' Gold asked her mum.
'No, honey. I haven't seen Mr. Scotty,' her mum told her.
'Where did Mr. Scotty go?' she said in a small voice.
'You must have left him somewhere,' her mother answered. Gold started to cry.
'But I want my teddy back,' Gold managed to say in between the sobs.
'Grow up now Gold! You can't take your teddy bear everywhere,' her mother said angrily.
Gold stared at her mother as if she had told her to eat green chilies. Her face fell and she went to her room. That same night, Gold and her parents had gone for dinner to Mrs. Styles' place as she had invited them.
Gold was still upset about losing Mr. Scotty but her father convinced her to go with them and promised to buy her another teddy bear.
'But it won't be same as my Mr. Scotty!' Gold pouted.
'I'll find you a teddy bear that looks exactly like Mr. Scotty,' Gold's father comforted her.
Gold shook her head but went with her parents to Mrs. Styles' place for dinner.
'What a pleasure to see you, Mrs. and Mr. Patel! Please come inside,' Mrs. Styles greeted them.
A little curly haired boy of almost the same age as Gold appeared in the doorway as Gold entered the house after her parents.
'Harry, say hello to Mrs. and Mr. Styles and their lovely daughter,' Mrs. Styles instructed her son to greet the guests.
'Hello,' little Harry said shyly.
'Hello Harry, nice to meet you,' Mrs. Styles said to him as Mr. Patel nodded to him.
'Hello,' Gold said awkwardly in a tiny voice.
'Hello sweetheart, what is your name?' Mrs. Styles asked little Gold.
'Gold,' she said and blushed a little.
'You have got a lovely name, honey,' Mrs. Styles said sweetly to Gold. Gold blushed and smiled a little.
'Harry, why don't you show Gold yours toys?' Mrs. Styles asked her son.
'Okay, mum,' Harry nodded.
'Go with Harry, honey,' Mrs. Patel coaxed her daughter.
Gold went along with Harry reluctantly. Harry led her to his room. He showed her his toy train, his lego bricks, his puzzles, and his cars. Gold didn't seem very interested. Then Harry went opened a cupboard and took out the teddy bear that he had found that day in his backyard. Gold's face lit up as soon as she saw her beloved Mr. Scotty.
'This is the teddy bear that I found today when I was playing in the backyard,' Harry said showing the teddy bear proudly to Gold.
'Mr. Scotty!' Gold exclaimed with pleasure.
'Who is Mr. Scotty?' Harry asked, confused.
'He is my teddy bear. His name is Mr. Scotty,' Gold replied proudly.
'Oh! But how can he be yours? I found it in my backyard,' Harry said impatiently as he really liked that teddy bear.
'I had lost him today and I searched for him all over my house, but I couldn't find him. Now I know why. You had Mr. Scotty all the day,' Gold shouted at Harry.
'I didn't steal him! Mr. Scotty landed in my backyard. Do you understand?' Harry shouted back at her.
'I didn't say that you stole Mr. Scotty. But he is mine. So, give my teddy bear back to me now,' Gold demanded.
Harry refused to return Mr. Scotty back. Gold's face fell. Then all of a sudden, tears started rolling down her plump cheeks. Harry didn't like to see people cry.
'Hey! Why are you crying? Please don't cry,' Harry pleaded to her. But she continued to sob.
Harry's heart melted to see her crying. So, he decided to give her Mr. Scotty back.
'Here, you can keep Mr. Scotty. Now stop crying. Okay?' he said softly.
'Really?' Gold asked in amazement.
'Yeah, really,' he replied curtly.
'Aww... You are so nice!' Gold said with awe.
Gold hugged Harry and said thank you to him. Harry blushed at this sudden display of affection. No girl had ever hugged him.
'You're welcome,' he mumbled.
'You are so nice! Thank you so much for returning Mr. Scotty to me. I love him so much!' Gold gushed.
'Oh, that's alright,' Harry said a little sadly as he liked the teddy bear, too and wanted to keep him for himself.
Gold saw the saddened look on Harry's face.
'You can come to play with Mr. Scotty if you want to,' she said.
'Yes. I will come to play with Mr. Scotty. I like him,' Harry replied.
'So, let's become friend,' Harry suggested shyly.
'No, I don't make friends!' she said.
'Why?,' he asked, intimidated by the refusal.
'Because I don't like people. They are not always nice,' she said like she were a wise old lady.
'Okay,' Harry said.
He was hurt because of what she had said. She felt guilty and decided to take back her words.
'But you are nice,' Gold said, smiling at Harry.
Harry smiled back at her and extended his hand. 'Friends?' he asked.
'Friends,' Gold confirmed, shaking his hand.
They became very good friends after that. Years passed by, and they grew up. As they were growing up, Harry fell in love with his best friend, Gold but he didn't express his feelings to her as he was afraid to lose her.