I opened my eyes as my phone vibrated beneath my pillow. With one eye closed, I took out the phone and looked at the screen.

His name flashed on the screen. I smiled to myself. I picked up the phone. I heard his voice. My most important treasure.

“Hey, still sleeping? What’s wrong with you? Do you want to be late for classes today? Do you want Professor Martin to scold you? Get up and get ready in 10 minutes; I am coming to pick you up, and you dare not get be late or I’ll chop you and throw your pieces into the sea.” 
He said this in one breath, giving me no time to explain or retort so I had to agree.  After all, I cannot ignore his orders, especially when he seems to be angry.

He is my ‘best friend’. Actually, my only friend. He is a heartthrob and a sweetheart — the perfect man. He is mature, intelligent, talented, handsome, etc. Almost every girl in college has a crush on him. I too am a part of that club but unlike other girls I do not follow him like a puppy. Unlike other girls, I do not like him because of his looks. I like him in my own way, for my own reasons. He is the best friend anyone can have and despite the variety of gossips about me, he sticks with me--that is what I love the most in him. I never told him about my feelings. He keeps saying he likes my company because I am the only girl who has not fallen in love with him, who is just a good friend. I am happy he has placed his trust in me such, but it hurts the truth that he is never going to be mine.

I rolled out of bed, put on my glasses and saw myself in the mirror. I wondered, will he accept me, if he ever knows about my feelings? Of course not. He was the coolest boy in our college and I was the dumbest. Those nerdy glasses, non-manicured nails, those bushy eyebrows....why would he look at me? 

I wiped the tear rolling down my cheek, reminded myself that my best friend would never leave my side and walked out. I spotted him leaning on his car, looking at his watch. I smiled as a shiver went down my spine at the sight of him.

“Hey! Sorry for being late,” 
“If you had been late for another minute, I would have throttled you. Now get in,” he growled. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. 

I knew how to make him happy so I did.
We reached the college. As he parked the car, I suddenly felt the need to thank him for being my friend.

“Listen, I want to thank you for being with me whenever I needed you.”
“Hey? Have you gone mad? You don’t thank your best friends,” he winked.
“No really, I mean, it’s must be so embarrassing for you to stick around with a dumb and boring girl like me. But you’ve stood by me, and answered every finger pointed at me.  I mean, in spite of all the embarrassment you never left my side.” I stuttered into silence, shuffling my feet and looking at the car’s floor. 

He smiled, took out a pile of papers from the dashboard and handed them to me.
With a confused look, I read through the papers. Each paper had a compliment written about me. The last paper simply said “I love you.”
Stunned, I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, a million questions He smiled at me.”I’ve loved you since the day I learned what love is. I don’t care about your looks. I don’t care what others say about you. I just want to make you happy and be with you forever.”
Love, after all, is based only on what you are, not only on your looks.