He shouts my name when I am halfway down the road out of the university. I stop at my tracks and wait for him to catch up. He then asks if I am already going home to which I answer yes.

“Can I come along?” I nod.

We usually just talk about Game of Thrones and some school stuff, so to fill the silence, I tell him: “Hey, did you hear that the President of HBO confirmed that Jon Snow really is dead?”

“No,” he bellows. “Jon Snow always comes back!”

I laugh. He is known for this – his boyish grin and his even boyish remarks. Well, he is also quite infamous for his arrogance and ego. And I was familiar with all that annoying traits, but somehow, he grew on me. He became less intolerable and more fun to be with. Or perhaps, I started tolerating him more after that incident last year. I can still see it clearly: the crestfallen face that he was trying to hide deep beneath his mask of masculinity. I think I am the only one who saw that. It’s almost heartbreaking.

“Maybe Mellisandre would reincarnate him or something,” I suggest.
“She better,” he says indignantly. “Out of all the deaths in this show, Jon’s was the most intolerable.”
“Hey, Shireen’s was equally devastating.”
He shrugs, and I laugh.

We talk about Game of Thrones until we catch a jeep homeward. Then we are silent. It’s uncomfortable to talk with many probable eavesdroppers around.

I find that he is already asleep when I feel his head on my shoulder. People are looking at us; two boys in college uniforms with one sleeping on the other’s shoulder. But I don’t mind. I look outside and suppress a smile.

“Alexander is such a sweetheart,” she told me earlier. I diverted my look at her, nudging her to go on. “Remember that time you got really mad and walked away?” I remembered. It was a dramatic exit and I was not proud of it. “Well, he told me that I should’ve followed you and checked if you were okay because I’m your best friend.” She took a sip of her Sprite. “I told him that I’d let you cool down first and talked to you when we got to school. But when we got there, I had to do some errands so I let him go on. When I entered the room, I saw Alexander talking to you. You were then laughing with him and you looked a little better. I didn’t know he would do that.”

I couldn’t believe her, but I knew it really happened. He pulled a chair and sat next to me. I thought it was just a daily dose of his constant bugging.

I look down at him and have the urge to bury my face in his hair. But it would be weird and strange, even for him, so I divert my gaze at the patches of road the vehicle left behind.