“Well, this seems straight out of a John Hughes movie or something, doesn’t it?”
“Or a really bad romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock or someone equally as one-dimensional.”
“See, Lyla. THIS is why we are friends. I would have said Sandra Bullock too.”
“See? This situation isn’t all bad.”
“Who said it was bad?” He said and looked at me.
We had been walking towards class, just the two of us, discussing this new album. It was more like arguing, though. The album was currently on repeat on Jackson’s ipod, and it was one I had regretted downloading.
“You are just not getting it, I think. I know you’ll love it once you can hear it.”
“I heard it just fine, thanks.”
“You may have listened to it, but you didn’t really hear it. You need to let it invade your soul.”
“I don’t know. It didn’t feel like it had an ounce of substance. It was just noise.”
“Ugh. Promise me you will give it another listen.”
“I don’t know.”
And then the sky opened up.
POUR.
The rain was coming down in sheets….almost sideways.
We ran to seek some shelter under the tiny roof overhang of some old building. After about 5 minutes, it was a safe guess that this apocalyptic rainstorm was not letting, and we sat down to ride out the storm.
Five minutes became ten.
Ten minutes became fifteen.
And we knew that we were not making it to our class that night.
And somehow, we didn’t care. I felt lucky to have met someone like Jackson. He was easy to talk to and, I don’t know, there was something nice about getting a different perspective on things. I liked hearing an unbiased, outside opinion about little stupid things that sometimes made me angry. And liked hearing about his life, his family, his friends. It was all very new. And, like, I said. Easy. We didn’t have to talk about finances or the kids’ schedules or grocery shopping or working late or anything stressful.
When it stopped raining, I promised that I’d give the album another chance. I trusted his opinion and wondered if maybe I was hearing, but not listening.
Friends. We were friends.
And at this point, I truly was blissfully unaware that the vibe we were feeling was more than just friendship. Maybe I was hearing the word “friend” but not really listening to what it actually meant….
Slippery.