This probably doesn't need to be said because I'm sure no one will either read or want to steal this, but if you do want it...IT'S MINE. I SPENT FIVE DAYS WRITING THIS AND BY GOLLY, IF YOU TRY TO TAKE IT I WILL BEAT YOU.
Have a nice day. :)
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Hi.
It's a simple word. Probably the simplest in the whole wide world. It's even simpler than yes or no. You just say it to anyone, don't you? If you pass someone on the street, you might say it. It's how people greet friends, too, which makes it universal as well. You can use it for anything.
The most important time I used it was when I met this one girl...and she ended up giving it back to me, too.
"Hi."
"Hi!" she replied, lighting up. I wasn't sure why, but it made me smile, too. That's another simple thing, isn't it? If someone smiles at you, you're apt to start smiling back.
She was petite and energetic, dark hair framing her face rather perfectly. I had to say I was a little jealous. She managed to stand out among the crowd of people in the hall, although the only strange thing about her were the stars that covered the upper left corner of her face (my left, that is--so her right). They were bright blue and I didn't know if they were real tattoos or not. Later she'd tell me they were. I would look at her strangely and she would laugh. Then I would laugh, too, because I loved her laugh.
"I'm looking for the library," she said, tucking some hair behind her ear, "could you tell me where it is?"
I nodded slowly. It was...odd. I wasn't sure why. Probably some combination of the stars on her face and her asking were the library was. She was new, had to be a freshman--freshman rarely asked where the library was , whether it be because they were too shy or they were too busy partying. The latter was pretty common at Madison University. Yeah, we were kind of a party school, but that's what made it fun, right? Right.
"Uh, yeah, it's just down this hallway, actually, and to the--" I began, giving her the simplest way I knew, before she interrupted me with a hand in my face.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking up sheepishly at me. "Did I say tell? Slip of the tongue. I meant show. It's just that I'm terrible with directions, so..." She shrugged her shoulders in a what-can-ya-do fashion.
"Oh, yeah, sure," I said, still stunned by this girl.
I walked down the hall I'd told her to wander down a moment ago, then went left. SHe followed behing me, her strut more "oh boy! ice cream!" than "augh, studying." I wondered what her major was. It might have been a normal question to ask, but I wasn't good at conversations. They really were not my forte, which was why I was going into research. Books were my thing and I just fround it weird that someone at Madison found them as interesting as I did--or at least she seemed to. That was another bad habit of mine; creating people based on my impression of them. It often left to a lot of broken images on my part, usually because I'd made them out to be perfect. As much as I might hate to admit...it also led to a lot of broken hearts.
But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather focus on the amazing girl I was meeting then than all my failed relationships. (There were a lot of them...but then, I digress.)
While we walked and I led, there was absolutely no talking. A lot of the time this felt awkward to me--I should be saying something!--though I never tried actually speaking. That was too much for my introverted self. But walking in silence with her was alright. In fact, it was really, really good. It felt good in the silence, like it fit. THat was another weird thing about her, but it was definitely a good weird.
Before I could decide to say something--because I was, I wanted to, instead of feeling like I needed to--she spoke up.
:So, what're you doing here?" she said. Her voice was oddly musical. I hadn't noticed it before, but it was there. She almost sounded like a fairy in a kid's movie. It weirded me out, more in the normal way. What person actually sounded like that?
"Uh, I'm majoring in--" I started, but she interrupted me again with the hand and an additional shake of her head.
"No, no, not what I meeant," she said, tutting me with an expectant, knowing smile. I thought she must have gotten that answer a lot, both from that look and because it was the logical answer for most people. "I meant what are you doing here? Why are you here?"
I knit my eyebrows together, confused. How was my major not the right answer to that question?
She nodded knowingly. She told me it was okay. Most people were confused by it.
We didn't talk for the rest of the walk, which was short, and she thanked me when it was over and went her way...but that stuck with me. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because I wanted ot get it. I like puzzles. I'm the kind of person that will sit and try to figure out a logic game for fun. I liked math in school because you could get a right answer in a way that always made sense...until you hit something new. Then you were baffled. Some people might give up then. But me? I wanted to find that logic. Why did this work? How'd it get there? She was like that. I didn't even know her name, yet I still wanted to solve the mystery that was her. I probably should have sen this as a sign of infatuation, butI simply saw her as a new problem to solve.
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