It’s like magic. It happens so quickly and most times you’re unable to tell how it happened or exactly why. But you know it happened. It’s beautiful, especially with the unexpectedness of it. Connections are beautiful things. It makes you smile, it makes you laugh. But most of all, it makes you feel.
It was a seminar, held for those that were choosing elective school courses. Surprise, surprise, I was late. As usual. I looked into the hall and saw that it was jam-packed with other students. I scanned the hall for a familiar face or at least a friendly one but for some reason, my eyes just couldn’t pick one.
And so, with great reluctance, I traipsed silently to the seat I saw that was more or less at the back of the class. I didn’t want to sit at the back. It was going to be an important class. I needed to hear everything. I tried not to show how upset I was by dumping my stuff loudly on the chair but I still sat down anyways.
The seminar started and I listened halfheartedly to the first speaker as he droned about why Science was more important than Art and why we would do a great service to ourselves by being a Science student. I wasn’t even bothered because talks like that had no bearing on me in my opinion. It had been decided long ago in my mind and my heart that I would be an Art student so I just stared at him with a look that bordered on sheepish.
Then the man made another ludicrous art-defaming statement and I just scoffed and said “Mad.” But I was taken aback at that moment because it felt like someone had said the same thing. I turned to the direction I felt the voice come from and was face to face with the weirdest looking face I’d seen in my life. I say it was weird because I’d never seen glasses so huge and so thick. It’s like this human was wearing a whole windshield. I didn’t even know when I blurted.
“What are you?”
I was about to apologize and say I didn’t mean it like that when he retorted. “I should be asking you. What carries haircuts so ugly these days?”
“You’re insane.” I clapped back.
“You make no sense.” He retorted with equal fervour.
I found myself fuming and then suddenly, I burst into a fit of giggles with the four-eyed stranger. We stopped and he extended his hand. “I’m Kylian.”
“Sorry dear, I don’t do handshakes,” I replied turning my face to the speaker in front of us. He laughed and I smirked. I’d made a friend. And somehow, I just knew we would be friends forever.
It’s been several years since that day and we remained the same, bantering each other at every opportunity. Fighting and arguing then laughing and reconciling. We knew we had a bond that couldn’t be broken and somehow that helped us get over our few differences over the years. It was one like never before. Helping each other through our most difficult times and immerging stronger after every blow life hit us with individually.
A couple of days ago, we talked on the phone and started reminiscing about our early days as friends. How we met and all of that. And suddenly, he asked.
“Why didn’t we ever date, Tess? We’ve been part of each other’s lives for so long.” He didn’t say it seriously but more like it had just occurred to him. I laughed long and hard at him because the answer was clear as day to me.
“It’s because we’ve seen each other finish, that’s why.” For those who don’t know what that means, it’s basically a situation where you know too much about someone so you can’t ever take the person seriously, let alone form a romantic relationship.
I reminded him of how carefree we were with each other and how he could literally call me while he was taking a dump or not bat an eyelash as he picks his nose in front of me. And how I freely spoke pidgin English with him and didn’t even bother refining my tone. He laughed and commented that in another life, he wouldn’t get so familiar with me to prevent how frequently I insulted him even though he was three years older.
He proceeded to laugh again at how I had consistently teased him in the past about being four-eyed but I was now using glasses as much as he did. Talk about the reward of evil, he said.
Sometimes, you meet people and just want to ask yourself where they have been all your life. It becomes hard to imagine or even remember how you survived when they weren’t a part of your life. There are a few more people that I share this amazing degree of connection that transcends beyond friendship and it's now like they are family. A part of me. I wish I could talk about all of them. Most of it wasn’t the immediate type like Kylian and I shared. More like you never noticed them before but after an event or occurrence, you suddenly see. And you wonder how you never noticed.
Connections are beautiful. And it's something that everyone deserves to experience, with at least one person in his or her lifetime. An ethreal experience. Euphoric.
Jhymi.🖤
