One Year of You and I

October 21st

Monday, October 21st, 2013

Holly

 The rain had fallen from the sky all throughout the weekend and proceeded to continue today. The cafeteria was identical to its state from Friday: filled with loud students everywhere. Brin and Ed used their same tactics to seek out a place for us to sit. Knowing of the long lines, this time the siblings and Piper brought their own lunches. With that, we all sat together as we ate.

  “Holly,” Piper said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “What’s going on with you?” 

  “What do you mean?” I asked her, putting down my chicken sandwich. 

  “Last week you were so happy-go-lucky,” Ed said, “and now you’re so down in the dumps.” 

  So maybe they were right. Maybe I wasn’t in the best mood. But don’t get me wrong; it’s not because that Luke never ended up texting or calling me that I was sad. It was because this had upset me that I was sad. Yesterday, as I had sat on the couch, one of those commercials for hungry children in Africa in need of adoption or donations appeared. As their sad eyes looked into mind, their bodies skinny and scarred, all I could think about was how much I wanted to hear my ringtone go off. My biggest worry was to hear from a boy who, to be honest, I barely even knew, while their’s was survival. When I realized how selfish I was being, I nearly grabbed my phone and dialed the number on the screen, hoping to have one of these kids sent to my house immediately so I could hug them and cry into their shoulder, apologizing.

  In spite of that, I still felt a small ache in my heart knowing that I had been ignored. A larger one appeared at the realization that I was upset on such a subject. In hopes of distracting myself, I looked around the cafeteria to find anything else to think about. 

  It really did amaze me that each and every person in this cafeteria, no matter if you were a cheerleader, a lunch-lady, a dreamer, a nonbeliever, an optimist, a pessimist, a realist, anything, we were all of the same species. We were all so different, from the outside to the in, yet we were all made up of the same things. We each possessed different thoughts, our own beliefs, our own problems and issues, our own personalities, yet we we still managed to all be the same. 

  One short girl with curly blonde hair walked through the cafeteria, holding a tray stacked with a salad and a water bottle. I had no idea who she was, but she had a story. She had people who loved her. She had people who she loved. It was possible that she hated people and that others could detest her. She could have problems as pitiable as my phone-dilemma, or maybe she was suffering more than anyone would ever know. 

 She looked up from her tray and her eyes met mine. What did she see in me? I was a fragile jealous pessimistic perfectionist who worried too much for it to be okay, yet could this interior be seen from my outside? 

  All of us in this busy cafeteria- so many people, that we’re are all nearly pushed against the walls. Even with this, we were only an incredibly small portion of the world. At the end of the day, we are insignificant as we are only a minuscule part of this planet filled with people all made up of the same things. 

  Looking over at Piper, I offered her a smile. “It doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it.”

  “Well, you should put a smile on your face then,” Brin told me, “as your man is coming over here.”

  “My man?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. 

  Brin nodded her head towards the back of me. Turning around, there he was: Luke in the flesh, walking in my direction. My problem may have been beyond stupid, yet I was only reminded of it as my eyes met his. With the rainy weather, the air had begun to cool, leading to sweater weather to roll in. Luke sported a red and black striped sweater that made me forget his ignorance toward me for a second.