A Waltz in the Sea

Chapter 2

In the fall of his sophomore year of high-school, G experienced a new sort of raw emotion. He met a group of friends at a tryout for his school's tennis team. As a freshman, G always found it troubling talking to the classmates who hailed from other schools. It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk to them -and he had no problem doing so when given ample opportunity- it was the lack of connectivity that had always distanced him from his new peers. Aside from those he knew from his middle school, G had very few close friends. They had all just come from different schools and knew nothing of each other and it had taken a fair amount of time before he truly felt comfortable around his new classmates. But his teammates were vastly different from the others, or with anyone he had ever known in fact. He couldn't explain that feeling, in a way that words would do it justice. But if he absolutely had to describe it to someone, he would tell them that they were like parts to a whole, a living being –two arms, two legs, a torso and a head; three girls, three boys, evenly balanced. They were supportive pillars for one another, and grew a bond pushing each other with the fiery spirit of competition. They were childish and curious and always found ways to have fun. And if anything ever happened, they were always there ready to lend a hand. They had established a rather silly rule too, that no one in their group was allowed to have an intimate relationship with one another. They thought it would only make things complicated, and G had never questioned it. And as such, they were able to treat each other equally. G never felt such stimulation, after having only a few close relationships all his life.

Some days, he wondered why it had to be six people. It wasn't a typical thought, but he thought about it nonetheless. In the stories he read, and the movies he watched growing up, there was always a group of five friends. Five always seemed to have problems. And so when the six of them immediately found some sort of chemistry, G initially felt some sort of skepticism. Was there one too many? He would always doubt himself for being the odd one out. He was the last to join their group after all. Except they had never treated him any different; they consulted him before making plans, they invited him as normal, and they talked to him as one of them. A group of seven never felt right either –there was one too many people to deal with. How would you split in half evenly at the small tables? And with that logic, you would need a third person mediator when you sat with two other people. A group of five, although he had read so much about them, was of course an odd number too and they would've had the same problems as the group of seven. Six was a perfectly even number. One that wasn't too large, or too small. Now, this wasn't to say they immediately loved one another and exchanged phone numbers the first time they met -rather it certainly did take them a bit of time to get to know one another. They (at least for G anyways) had initially felt a faint sort of understanding for each other and after a few blind encounters, they really became inseparable. The group spent their lunch breaks together eating and chatting, walked home together, spent their weekends together, and made all their plans together. And although they were all studying different subjects at school, they still kept each other at a close intellectual proximity; discussing what happened in their classes that day, what they learned, and even what gossip was going around during their classes.

"Did you know she starting dating Andrew? Of all people, Andrew! Why'd it have to be him?"

"What? No way! I don't believe you, who told you?"

"I'll tell you after class."

If they weren't talking in person, they would be engrossed in their phones on social media, texting their group chat online. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about either -for there was so much to do, so much to know. Whatever one person knew, everyone knew. They were one whole. It was unanimous, truly a sense of harmony and belonging, like they had finally found their foothold in the world. And it was the most at peace G had ever felt in his entire life.

On Friday nights, G liked to meet up with his friends at a local tennis court after school to practice before their next school meet. They dedicated themselves to the sport and trained for every tournament. Only four of them actually played (the other two weren't on the team). They were there for roughly four hours; they went home to get ready and met up at five. They had dinner after at one of the few diners nearby, or sometimes they would gather at someone's house and laze around there. They weren't picky eaters (well...except maybe one) and they would go home to finish whatever homework they were assigned to that evening (though only for the teachers that actually did a homework check).

The following day on Saturday mornings, G wokeup to his usual routine. He brushed his teeth, checked his email, and had alight breakfast, usually some buttered toast and a glass of juice. He wouldthen text his friends at the dining table. They liked to go cycling just at theoutskirts of the city on weekends, where the greenery was so much more refreshing,and they could stop and lie down on the grass at the riverbank and feel thebreeze. On the following weekdays, G went to school as normal, Monday to Friday,attended every class (well, mostly) and waited for his friends after school towalk home. Sometimes they would even visit the coffee shop on their route back.It was a monotonous lifestyle, a repetitive action almost like muscle memorythat he had ingrained into his brain that left little room for doubt. G hadthought nothing of it. It was stiff and rugged and he had always disliked doingthings systematically but this felt different. They were at an enjoyable age; onewhere responsibilities were kept to a bare minimum and there was no need tohave any serious reflection on their lives...not yet anyways.