Ten years on

The most absurd evening was had.

Out of the blue, a schoolmate from ten years ago – GT announces that he’s landing in London, and with the stars aligning just right SJ announces that she’s free for the evening as well.

So we meet, after ten years. He belonged to the geek squad, she belonged to the charmed circle, and I belonged to the general nerd cloud. We met, and over two hours discussed various things of importance. Who had a crush on that absurdly hot English teacher. Who did who in which corner of the school. Which rumours flew fast and which ones died an early death.

All my life I’ve been proud of being the odd one out. But I wasn’t really. We were all odd ones out. We were all weird. All trying to fit in desperately. Normalcy was a mirage. It never really was true.

So we sat there by London Bridge. Awash by wastefulness and by nostalgia, years hitting our conscience one by one. Three people who had never hung out together, suddenly in a group hug, giggling.

It’s in that moment that you realize that your teenage angst is already over, that you feel calm and almost sleepy. Almost peaceful.We barely understood each other, we barely understood ourselves.