METANOIA

DIVINE INTERVENTION

Without looking up from his cell phone, Silas sighed to himself, "Man, his timing is fucking immaculate."

Anda asked, "Is that Misha?"

Silas replied, "No, it's my dad. He is at my flooded house."

Anda said, "Cute, your dad still wipes your shit in a way."

Silas smiled, and she continued, "So how was the trip for you? You guys got to see a crazy amount of people here."

"I'm sorta sad to leave everyone. This trip made me reevaluate my life back home. I really missed the people here. Missed how I bonded with them. Back home, a lot of things are a bit different, and there are some things I want to change about my life."

Anda encouraged him, said, "Good. Now you know what the problem is, you can change it."

Silas said, "Three years it turns out was a fucking long time. People changed a lot, man. I mean I didn't realize how much I had changed before I got here, but heck, everyone else seems to have changed dramatically as well."

Anda said, "Well, duh, three years is a long time. Like what? Have I changed?"

Silas joked, "Well for starters, you have gotten a bit nosier, it seems."

Anda giggled as she replied, "And, you have gotten more defensive."

Silas nodded, "Misha hasn't changed much has he?"

Anda shook her head, and said, "Naaaw he has, it just isn't on the surface yet."

Silas smiled, "I doubt I want him to change."

Anda jumping straight to point, "Pete looks like he is about ready to marry Nick."

Silas smiled, "I wonder that too. I mean, something changed in his mind, from when we started the trip and toward the end of it."

Silas was avoiding the topic of Lisa altogether, talking to Misha was already quite embarrassing, but Anda was going to go there. They were best friends after all.

Silas tried changing the topic. "Well, I am glad I survived the trip.

Anda said, "With your luck, I wouldn't be surprised." She didn't let him get away. "So how did it go last night with Lisa?"

Silas sighed, "Yeah, seeing Lisa was an eye opener; though I feel like I missed the one and only window of opportunity I have ever had with her."

Anda said, "Knowing Lisa, I don't think there was a window of opportunity because if there was, then she wouldn't just be leading you on, but would be expecting something serious."

We deliver messages with our words to the people around us, but those messages are worthless compared to the silent ones we deliver. You can say "you are okay" with your mouth, but if your eyes show even the slightest expression of pity, those words become the most venomous blade as opposed to the salve they were intended to be.

There was something in the way she had said, "I don't think there was," that warned Silas about her true feelings. She seemed like she was aggressively against the idea.

Silas pressed the issue out of curiosity, "You are right, but if she did, I know I'd be just as serious."

Anda didn't seem too sure that "serious" was in the books for Silas at all. She had even tensed up a bit.

Silas continued, "Which is another good reason to leave now. Before I cave in, and stir all sorts of shit that may or may not damage my friendship with her. God! Fuck this friggin friend-zone."