It's been a while since I last saw her. I saw her in class every day, don't get me wrong, but it's been almost two years since I talked to her alone. Four semesters or so, in university terms. Now that we are nearing graduation, we decided to meet again. For old times' sake.
"Hey", she greeted me. I was sitting on a wooden bench behind the main library, overlooking a long, shallow lake filled with overgrown plants and weeds. "Hey, Fi", I answered gently. Her name is Fiona Evergreen but all her classmates call her Fi. We used to call her 'Nevergreen' when we first met her because she just kept to herself most of the time. After a few classes and a lot of chatting and laughing in between, she finally opened up a little, even then not always.
"How are you?" I asked, out of habit.
"I'm fine. Feeling a little sick but I'll get back on my feet. Nothing serious", she answered. We were sitting with a small distance between us, a gap not big enough to fit someone else but enough for maybe a small child.
"So, how's everything?" I continued asking, not knowing what to bring up.
"Everything's as usual. Nothing's changed much. I made some new friends, lost some others. You know, the usual headaches here and there. You?"
"Been doing a lot of studying and reading. Still trying to figure out what else to eat every night other than instant noodles"
"Still a big fan of Dan Brown?"
"Still a fan", I joked, smiling. When we first met, she was reading a Dan Brown novel at the cafeteria. She was flipping through the pages vigorously, as if studying the damn thing. That was the moment I braved myself and took a step towards her. I asked if the seat in front of her was taken. She said no, without even raising her head. I sat in front of her, not knowing what to do next. I started talking to her, asking her about what she's reading and what not. She asked me if I've ever read Dan Brown's novels before. I told her I had. "Big fan", I said. Big mistake. As soon as she started quoting stories from the books, I confessed. I have never even opened one of them. Since then, we started talking more and more after class at the cafeteria or behind the library, on a wooden bench overlooking a long, shallow lake filled with overgrown plants and weeds. That was a long time ago.
She brought along Dan Brown's new book, tucked away in her yellow sling bag.
"You still using that old bag?" I looked at it for a split second.
"Yeah, you know. It's a good bag"
"You could have just bought a new one"
"Why waste a perfectly good bag? Besides, it's lucky"
I laughed, remembering that time during the State Fair. I was working at the 'Lost and Found' booth with a friend of mine. It was horrible. It was loud, dirty, and everyone was drunk and annoying. That's university life for ya', never lose on the opportunity of earning a quick buck or two.
I took a break for a few minutes, buying a cold hotdog and a cup of who-knows what, and took a stroll through the fair. The crowd was thinning out as it was getting late. Walking near the old carnival rides, I saw a yellow bag sitting on an empty picnic table. Being the good citizen that I am, and I guess also because I worked at 'Lost and Found', I went up to the bag and took it. As I was walking back to the booth, a woman came up behind me. "So this is who you really are", she said. "What?", I answered. Then I realized it was Fi. "That's my bag", she pointed to it. "Oh, really? That's great", I smiled at her with my awkward, smile. "I was just taking it to the Los-", she punched me right in the jaw. I fell backwards into a puddle of water and dirt. "Wh, why would you do that?", I asked, mixed in anger and utter confusion. "You were stealing it, weren't you? So this is who you really are", she towered over me with clenched fists. Everyone turned towards us. "Look, I was taking it to the 'Lost and Found'. I wasn't stealing it or anything. If I was, I wouldn't be here right now talking to you, now would I?". As soon as she realized what was really happening, her face just lost all colour. Then I started laughing like a madman. "Haha, so that's how that TV show went?", I asked her, making sure everyone heard it as well. "Uhm, yeah, yeah, that was how it went!", she got what I tried to do.
