Complete Strangers

Funny How Life Works

Buzz buzz. My phone? Sitting at my lunch table, it was any other Thursday. Mostly, classes were spent waiting for Friday with the anticipation of the weekend.

Hey. That was all it said. The number was new to me. Doing what I usually do with mis-texts, I sent a stupid reply. I'm probably not the droid you're looking for. Then I opened Safari and looked up the number. It was actually near me.

After taking a screenshot and sending it to my friends for giggles, I put my phone away, forgetting all about the unknown number.

At the end of the day I went to art club with my gals. Art club was the only thing that made Thursday worth anything. Near the end of club I received another message. It's Allen. I shook my head and chuckled, he must not have got that this is the wrong number. I decided being polite was the best option. Hey dude, I don't know whom you're trying to reach, but you've got the wrong number or were given a wrong number. I got a response quicker this time. Oh sorry. It read.

I smiled at my phone. Bye, have a nice life. He said, same to you. That was where I though it would end. My friend convinced my to ask him if he'd like a cat facts subscription. No thanks, I'm good. I couldn't stop smiling, there was something so unbearably exciting about this, about him. I also asked if he liked pie, that too, was on account of my friend. He did.

We began a sort of strange friendship, I introduced myself. It was only fair since I already knew his name, but he didn't know mine. I eventually asked how old he was, since my subconscious wanted to make sure he wasn't 26 or older. He was 18.

I breathed a sigh of relief, since the romantic side of me was already crushing on the idea of this guy that was oh-so-interesting. Just like that we were friends. I liked talking to him, it added a spark to my day. He liked talking to me, I made his life more interesting.

A week or two into talking to him, we discovered that we had similar deep thoughts. We could understand a part of each other that no one else could. He took the dark away. The dark inside me that kept my soul cold and detached. For him, I understood him in a way that he couldn't even try to talk to his friends about. I understood him. He understood me.

I was able to tell him anything I thought. Whether it was about life, love, or any other thing a person can think. For once, I didn't feel isolated inside.
---
It had been about a month of knowing each other. We rarely didn't text. There was even a time when I stayed up till 5 am. 5:11 if you wanna be exact.

This night was the one that changed me. It was all too new and all too exciting. He was going to college next year, I already knew that though. What will we do when I go to college? You know we won't be able to talk much then. I knew, I just didn't want to think about it. I don't want you to be attached to me. I don't want to hurt you.

It's too late for that, I'm already attached. My heart began pounding, waiting for the response I might receive. Then the same goes for me. He liked me back? Someone actually liked me back? I was so incredibly happy, but then the realistic talk happened.

Could it actually work? Could we make long distance without ever having met once work? I thought so, everything is possible. He didn't. In his eyes, there was little chance that we would be successful. I tried to convince him otherwise, but sometimes he could be just as obstinate as me. Soon after that night, we never spoke again.

I tried to get him to respond after a week of space. If we couldn't be more, at least we could be friends. No matter what I said, he never answered. As persistent as I usually am, I gave up. It's been a month, it's time to let go. And just like that, it was over. Something that could have been beautiful, just wasn't. It was more than that though,
I didn't care that I was essentially rejected anymore. I didn't care if he hated me or whatever. I just wanted him to respond, because there was something between us that I did care about losing: I lost a friend. That broke my heart more than anything else.
---
Nowadays I walk through the halls, wondering where my life will go from here. Who will I give all the love in my heart to? I thought it was going to be Allen, but I was wrong. No, Allen and Gracey would never be. The lack of communication assured that.

I felt like going to the park today. It was the perfect temperature for me, and super windy. I love the way wind plays with and tangles up my long copper brown hair. I couldn't help but love it, the wind always brought me good things.

I sat on a swing, all the while freeing my hair from it's rubber restraint. If only I could be here forever. Then I'd never have to feel lonely again. I must have said it allowed, since I was replied to. If I hadn't spoken aloud, then I should fear what might be learned from my thoughts without my willing it.

"If you stay here forever, you might get a little hungry" a male voice says, "You know, since you've confined yourself to a single swing". I could hear the smile dance across his face. I peek a single eye open.

"How do you know I'm not a vampire? My food would come to me" I smiled back. Opening my eyes completely to observe this new person's reaction. He feigns a look of shock, picks up a couple of wood chips and holds them in a cross shape. Eyes dramatically wide,
"Be gone ye demon spawn! Ye shalt not suck mine blood fluids!"
"Blood fluids?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"Blood fluids." He nods affirmatively. I chuckled at that. I had been so willing to accept that I was now lonely again, that I forgot how much I loved to laugh with people. I had forgotten the girl I was before Allen, but now I could see her again. If only for a bit I could, it made me smile.

Then I forgot her again, my thoughts betrayed me, I started to remember the hurt. The tears started to fall, I couldn't stop them. All the pain I had kept in, that I used to punish myself, to deny that we would never be friends again. Then the sobbing came, and the ugly cry face, and everything in the world trying to push down my throat. The guy I was with stopped talking, he made a movement towards me.

I could here the chips shifting beneath his feet, "Hey...? I was only joking, I didn't mean to make you cry or anything. I swear! I'm sorry okay, please stop crying. Ehhh.... What do I do? What do I do?!" He was going into a state of panic. I wiped my tears on the sleeves of my shirt.

"Thank you" trailed weakly out my mouth. He paused in his frantic pacing.
"What? Why? I made you cry! Guys shouldn't make girls cry! Don't thank me, slap me or something!" He was so confused.

"No, I needed that. Besides, it wasn't really you, you just helped me let them out." My face was still wet, covered in a light pink blush. I could feel its heat, and the winds sting. The wind doesn't like it when you cry; at least, that's what my mother says. Even though the tears stopped physically; at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to continue sobbing. But he was there. I couldn't cry in front of others, I was too prideful for that.

"Well if not me, what's making you sad?" He reached a hand out, pulling one of my hands from my face. He didn't let go as he sat in the swing beside me. "Come on, you can tell me."

"I lost someone I almost fell in love with. I lost a friend." Voicing it was different than writing or thinking. Saying it made it eternal, an eternal reality I didn't want to face.

"Oh." He looked a little unsure of what to say or do. We weren't exactly friends, it wasn't like he could offer much comfort without knowing boundaries either. Looking away and then back to me, he lets go of my hand and runs behind me. "Up you go!" He shouts, pulling my seat back and then running under it.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" I clutched to the chains for dear life. "I'm afraid of heights!" He doesn't look sorry at all. That little! I jumped off as soon as I could and chased after him. This strange guy just stood there smirking at me while I was about to die. When I ran out of energy and started panting he came back.

"There, all better." I looked up, he was right. I did feel better, not at all sad anymore. Then I looked at the time, 5:25 pm. I had to go, my parents would worry if I wasn't back by 6.

"I have to go now, thanks again."