73 Memories

The Seventh Memory

The next day at school, you sat with me at lunch so we could discuss our project a little more.

But we never actually did that, did we? Instead, you asked me questions, and I answered them, and vice versa.

You know my birthday.

I know your birthday.

Your favorite color is blue.

You had a pet hamster when you were in second grade, but one night you wanted to sleep with it so you got it out of the cage and lost it.

I felt like I knew every detail about you by the end of that lunch hour, I wasn't sure at the time if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

I had to lie with some of the answers I gave you.

"Why'd you move here?" You asked me, and I couldn't honestly answer that. So I came up with something basic. "My dad had a job offer."

You nodded and then we kept throwing questions and answers at each other. I had to watch myself, make sure I didn't say the wrong thing, but it was still one of the best days of my life.

There was something about the way that you asked the questions that made me feel like you actually wanted to know about me. That was a weird concept for me then because even my father didn't know half the things you learned about me that day. He didn't know my favorite color, my favorite Little Debbie snack cake.

But you did. You knew all of that.

At the end of lunch, I was pretty sure you knew me better than I knew myself. Because you knew the real me. I was too absorbed in my mother that I couldn't see the real me anymore. But there was no doubt in my mind that you could. The look in your eyes said so. After that, you didn't have to ask me certain things, like if I would rather have fries or tots from the lunch line because that one day you had listened to me.

Because that one day, I had given you a little bit of my trust.

You still had a lot to earn, but when you would sit with me after that, you knew that I wanted fries if you got my lunch for me.

That's a scary thought, I hope you know.

Trust. It's powerful, and its dangerous. But thank you for letting me know that you secretly watched Mickey Mouse when you were home alone. Thank you for trusting me to not go and tell everyone that your favorite character was Pluto.

Thank you.