An Anthology Of Me

Random Encounter

My professor had cancelled my previous class, so I wandered around Campus. It was our college's sports week and I was looking for a way to kill some time while waiting for my next, hopefully "not cancelled" class.

While walking around, I happened to pass by the gymnasium and I could hear a large commotion coming from inside. With nothing better to do and about an hour or so left of waiting, I decided to let my curiosity get the better of me.

Inside I saw a basket ball game going on. As to be expected from a game between the CSIT students and the Maritime students, it was almost completely one sided. It felt kinda sad really. A little over half the crowd was loud and cheering on while the others seemed to just be half watching and either using their phones or just chatting with their friends. Looking at the teams and the score the outcome was pretty obvious already. It even seems like the announcer is doing his best to lighten the mood of this tragedy.

I wasn't really a fan of basketball or sports in general but since I was already there, I decided to see if CSIT could at least even the score. like they say, "everybody loves an underdog". As I scanned through the crowd looking for a place to sit, a familiar face caught my eye it was Ann, it's been about a year or two since we last said a word to each other, but just as quick as that thought occurred to me, she just as quickly noticed me and waved at me.

I waved back obviously, then she gestured for me to sit next to her. After confirming there was no one else she could possibly be talking to, I went to go sit with her.

After not seeing her for so long, there was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to ask, but I have to calm myself. So I took a deep breath, opened my mouth and tried starting with something simple.

"Hi."

"Hey."

So far so good, I guess.

"So what are you doing here? I didn't know you liked basketball."

"Oh, I'm here to support my friend. He's on the CSIT team."

I didn't know she had any friends from my college. Wow, the gap between the scores keeps growing. Even the commentator is ripping our team a new one.

"Looks like they need all the cheering they can get."

"Hahaha, yeah."

It's been so long since I've seen that smile... Oops, don't get too distracted.

"Which one is your friend?"

"Oh, he's not here. He got sick and couldn't play today"

"Then who are you cheering for?"

"Well I can still cheer for his team even if he's not here. Do you think they would find it weird if I shouted to cheer them on?"

"Hahaha, of course not. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have their own little cheerleader."

We laughed and then watched the game a little bit. As expected the CSIT team wasn't doing very well, Ann shouted to cheer the team on, it was cute and a valiant effort but it didn't really change much. There was some silence but I still wanted to ask more, to find out how she's been all this time.

"So, how have you been? Anything new happen since we last talked?"

"Hmm... Nothing much, I've been going to see a therapist again."

"Oh, that's good. I'm glad to hear that. Has it been going well?"

"Well, I've started to give less fucks. So that's good."

"She does look like she's a lot happier than she used to."

"Hahaha, well there's only so much fucks to go around after all. "

I wonder if it's okay to ask her about her relationship? would it be crossing some boundaries? would it be too much? ah, well fuck it. I'm curious and if it blows up in my face so be it. You got this.

"So, how are you and Ron?"

"Oh him? We broke up a long time ago."

"Really? Why?"

"I'd rather, not talk about it right now. Sorry."

"That's alright, we don't need to talk about it."

Well that didn't go as bad as expected. keep going.

"Anyways... who's this 'friend' of yours? Do I know him?"

"Since when do you know people?"

"Hey, you never know. I might..."

I don't really know people but hey I'd probably at least know his face.

"You guys going out or something?"

"No, we're just friends."

"Like, 'friends' or friends?"

"Hahaha, we're just friends. I'm not really looking for anything right now."

"Really, Why not?"

"I'm not just in the mood for anything serious, but I do think for the first time in a long time I might actually be in love again. Do you get it?"

"Oh, yeah. I think I do. I mean, we're still young and in college. We don't need to rush into anything right now. we're just in college after all. I think I might feel the same way."

Huh?

"There's still so many things for us to do, I just don't think I'm in the mood to just settle down, you know?"

What am I talking about?

"Right?"

What am I saying? How long have I felt this way? Is this really how I feel? Or am I just trying to agree with her? All my life, I've always been the guy that just wants to settle down and have a serious relationship. Someone to spend the rest of my life with.

So, why do I feel like what she just said hits so close to home? Why did I say those things?

"Go CSIT! Wooo!"

She cheered, which soon was drowned by the murmur of the crowd.

After a while the CSIT team inevitably loss. Ann said she was going to go "congratulate" her friend on their loss.

"I'm gonna go now, it was nice catching up with you."

"Yeah. It was nice."

"Bye."

"See ya."

We didn't talk much but it felt like by just being around her and seeing her, that we exchanged so much. I felt as if we had poured a lot of our thoughts and emotions just by sitting next to each other, but something felt off compared to our usual encounters. I wasn't particularly happy or sad. I just felt...

I felt... different.

But a good different.

Maybe friends really was the way to go.

But I wonder about what I said earlier...

Is that really how I feel?

Why did I suddenly change?