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This happened when I was 15. Shy and awkward. My mother signed me up for one of those "Character development" classes during the summer. I didn't mind. I was more than grateful to go. I had a crush on a boy living in another city, we talked alot on the phone before the summer. Texting is my strength so it was easy to built our friendship. He'd mention his plan to visit his grandparents who lived near by my place which meant so much to me. He liked the outgoing type and I was determined to be that type or close to it when he came to visit.. The first day, we were all herded into the Auditorium. About 30 socially awkward teens in one giant auditorium. Teachers/staff in every corner, the main teacher took charge. He said his name but I was too nervous to hear. We were all handed a piece of paper and a pen. On it were columns. One column it said "NAMES" on the other "HOBBIES" We were to befriend as many people as possible within 5 minutes and get them to write their names and hobbies. As soon as the activity started, the auditorium became a hive of mumbling, bumbling, stuttering and nervous laughing idiots. There were a lot of "excuse me?" "Uh ..Hi?" "..can you?" "Sorry.." Accompanied by the gesture of shoving paper on them. We were all in rush. But 5 minutes felt like an eternity of slow moving sleep paralysis. I didn't catch a single name or remember a face properly during that 5 minute mark and I doubt anyone else did too. I had about 4 names when the last minute count down began. I had a blue pen. (Mark that. Thats important.) I didn't want to be the idiot with only 4 names in a group of socially awkward people. So I urgently looked around. Then it came to me. She was just standing there. By the window. Which was odd. No teachers in that corner. I remember walking up to her. She turned and I was suddenly hit with this overwhelming sense. I was looking at me. Same face. Same anxious lip biting. I felt like we were one and the same. Time seem slowed as she smiled at me. She had a paper and a pen. "Do you want me to?" She asked breaking whatever connection it was. I handed my paper to her. "Are you sure?" She asked. Then a teacher walked up to us, telling us how we looked so similar. She laughed and I laughed and I felf hypnotized. "Good luck" she told me as she handed me back my paper, I barely could look at her name, time was up and I had to run back to my seat. When I looked down. It was my name scrolled in black ink which was weird because everyone seems to have gotten blue pen just like I did. I tried to hide my paper because I didn't want anyone to think I wrote my own name. But a teacher came row to row, she came by saw it, chuckled to herself and walked back. I felt so embarrassed. Till the end of the day, we did activities but I forgot about her. Some weird little incidents happened here and there. I made some friends from that class. We bonded over how horrific the classes were. The boy I had a crush on went on to date his grandparents' neighbour's kid completely destroying my 15 year old heart. I forgot all about the weird summer until last week. I work as a music teacher full time and help out with other curricular activities held in the school during the summer. I was asked if I wanted to work as a teacher for social development classes. "Ironic" I thought as I typed back a yes to Al. Al also was in the development class with me and our friendship had been built on the backbone of the mortifying activities we had to do in that class like singing or sharing our hobbies infront of the class. The auditorium felt strangely familiar as I stood by the window. Awkward, shy and anxious students filed in one by one. Then the activities began and I was overwhelmed. I felt so much fear. So much fear that I couldn't move. I looked away from the scene and out the window. I didn't know what I was afraid of but I knew it was coming. Whatever it was, it was heading my way and instinctively the fear overwhelmed my actions. "Excuse me?" I heard a nervous voice. *My voice*

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