I Swear You Will Be Fine

The previous two competitions I wrote about happened before we got together. After we started dating, we had even more competitions, if that was possible. We competed over everything we could think of. I mentioned this in one of my writings a few months back, that the first time I signed “I love you” to you was over video call, when we both stayed up way past our bedtime laughing about the silliest and most trivial things. That evening-turned-night, we spent our time rapping nursery rhymes, doing official IQ tests from various countries (we do this a lot), and competing in insignificant tests. Yes, we stayed up past 4am… doing Buzzfeed quizzes that were titled, “Only A Straight-Up Genius Can Get A Perfect Score Doing These 30 Marvel Trivia Questions!” and “Sorry, But Only A True ‘Harry Potter’ Expert Can Get 7/7 On This Quiz!” We spent most of the night trying to beat each other in these “insignificant” quizzes – with penalties too, by the way – and had the best time. That night would be the first of many others where we’d be hunched over a phone trying to guess which artist painted an unfamiliar painting, which country has a certain specialty, or whether we were a true Disney expert. This is another thing I miss about us. I miss doing IQ tests in our free time and sharing our scores with each other. I miss sitting with you and doing silly quizzes then teasing the loser about them after. I miss all the supposed “insignificant” things we did. The “insignificants” that were actually all very much significant.

Apart from quizzes, we once competed in building Nanoblocks. It was my idea for us to go out together, buy Nanoblocks we liked, and build it for each other. You picked out a red panda, and I picked out a pair of birds sitting together. We got home, planned what time we should start building, and when the time came, we got to work. I don’t know if you planned this, but the minute we each opened our Nanoblocks bag to build for the other, I could instantly see that the red panda you picked was more challenging. It had way more tiny pieces and similar colors of red, brown, and black. Meanwhile, the pair of birds I picked out for you to build had distinct blue, yellow, and green colors. The pieces you had laid out were clearly less than mine too. I told you this in a whine, and you just laughed and said in a sing-song voice, “Ohhhhh!!! Are you perhaps afraid of losingggggg???” We spent the next half an hour concentrating on our builds, each determined to beat the other. As expected, you finished slightly faster than I did, and started gloating in my face. When I completed mine, we took pictures and whilst “arguing” about whose build was more challenging, your mum came home. I was still quite new to your mum at that point, but I needed someone to be an objective judge. So, when you called her over to show her our masterpieces and flaunt that you had beat me, I took the chance and told her that you had an easier piece. We started bickering while she laughed and waited patiently for her to decide who truly had a tougher time building. She carefully looked at both our builds and their instruction manuals and sided with me! She agreed that you indeed had a simpler build! You were laughing as you protested, and this competition remains one of my favorites. Sitting on my display headboard at the back of my bed is the pair of birds you built for me.

We had many more competitions and I’m sure if I kept going, I would be able to write at a length befitting a book. But the last story I wanted to share was Catan. We played Catan online, again through video call, and the very first time I played Catan with you, I won. I am so proud of this because before we played, you were raving about how good you are at Catan and how you play all the time, and I was so nervous to play with you. You said that we should also play with your mum and sister, and that your sister was ultimately the best. I was quite nervous, in fear of appearing dense in front of your family, and agreed to practice with you before the day came that the four of us would play. So one fine evening, after hearing you talk about it extensively, I decided to give in and play a game. It took a while, but we played with a bot and I finally beat you. It wasn’t a big win; I think you were only one or two points below me, but I relished this victory. I rubbed it in your face as much as I could, “Ha!! Did I just beat you at your own game??” You demanded a rematch with a smile on your face, laughing that you let me win (Oh please, you’d never let me win. You have never let me win. You talk about how we’re equals, how could you ever let me win!).

The best part of all of this, like I said in my last post, is that we are never actually unhappy about each other’s wins. When you beat me in building Nanoblocks, we happily took pictures after and I gushed about how good and smart you are. When I beat you at Catan, as proud as I was, I never thought of taking a picture, but you grinned so brightly and said, “Smile, I want to commemorate this moment!” That’s just how we are – always proud and happy for each other. I’d never want it any other way.

Looking forward to competing with you again! In the meantime, I guess I could compete with everyone else and hope I win (Okay, fine. I can hear you say, “Sha, they can win sometimes too!” So, fine, fine… Sometimes your family and friends can win…).

I can’t wait to see you again. I love you more, always, and forever.

Love always,
Sha