Some people leave high school with a resume. Others leave with a reputation. The Sidekick staff writer Ayaan Haque is leaving with something harder to define.
An imprint.
The kind that lingers in the corners of D115, in the rushed footsteps through the halls of Coppell High School and somewhere between a 180-degree head tilt and a story about a Big Fat Orange Cat™.
I met Ayaan in third period last year, or at least, I saw him. I never actually talked to him. He had this intimidatingly smart aura, like he was operating on a different level. And to be fair, he is. But what that version of me didn’t realize is that he’s just as likely to debate policy as he is to go on about a big fat orange cat like it changed his life.
Oh! And how could I forget his hatred for strawberry ice cream.
By the time this year rolled around, that distance did a complete 180°.
What started as a shared pace turned into shared stories: coverage assignments, rushed interviews, in-depth research and even half-formed ideas scribbled in notepads that somehow turned into finished pieces. In between all of that, we built something less tangible but more lasting: a friendship defined just as much by deadlines as dumb jokes.
The most consistent of these jokes? The 180°.
At some point, we started greeting each other by tilting our head sideways, full commitment, no explanation. It is awkward and so unnecessary, but it’s our thing. And like most things with Ayaan, it doesn’t have to make sense to matter. That 180° joke eventually became more than a joke: it is a reminder that the best connections come from the most unexpected turns. That duality of seriousness and absurdity is what makes Ayaan who he is.
Most people know him as the composed, politically engaged leader: someone deeply invested in his community, someone who understands the weight of responsibility and doesn’t shy away from a challenge. He speaks with intent, listens with purpose and leads in a way that makes people pay attention.
But that is just one side.
The other side I got to know.
The one that tells stories with unnecessary detail, that somehow circles every conversation back to that big fat orange cat, that finds humor in the moments most people would miss.
As the school year comes to an end, Ayaan prepares to begin his journey as a SMU Mustang. But regardless of all that, e’ll still be there in every in-depth, every scoop of strawberry ice cream and probably every Big Fat Orange Cat™ I come across.
This goodbye is one that’s a little unfinished, a little open-ended and entirely fitting.
Because if there’s anything Ayaan taught me, it’s that the best stories don’t end cleanly.
They just turn.
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