Chapter One: A Typical Prelude

When I was a few years younger I met a young man whom I shall call Paris. He was a complete gentleman, a bit thin, sporting a skin head hairstyle and with a low and nice voice. I first saw him when I entered the student organization room of our school for the first time (I was a vice president of our department's organization & he was the president of their organization). He was seated at the far end of the room sharing a laugh with a female classmate of his that time.

I quietly entered the room and sat at the center table while waiting for Peter, my president, to arrive. I know who he is right away because during that time my good friend Charlize liked him and she mentioned him to me more than once.

I sat quietly there browsing through my notes from my last class. I pretended to ignore them but in reality I was watching them like a vulture. Observing this young man whom Charlize fancies. After a few minutes of closed and careful observation I have made my conclusion. I said flatly to myself, "hmmm... He's cute." After that Peter arrived and we started discussing possible activities for our organization.

I do not remember if it was before, during, or after my meeting with Peter that he introduced me to Paris. But what I can remember is that it was a typical prelude to one another with exchanges of "hi's" and "hellos" and period.
After that other officers of different student organizations arrived and Peter introduced me to them.

Being there was like being in a classroom where the whole class is close friends. It was something I was longing to experience. You know, being accepted. The feeling of belonging to a group. For once I forgot how it was to be alone.
You see, a few semesters ago I belong to a circle of friends whom I thought were my "perfect" friends. We do almost everything together. Until one night they accused me of upstaging them and being very nosy. I never thought that a semester old friendship could shatter in one night.

Since then I distant myself to everyone. Even to my other friends. Even to my parents and my older sister.

I did that because I was very startled on what happened between me and the group. I don’t know what my shortcomings were as their friend.
So since then, a year and a half to be exact, I was alone with a very low self esteem.

As the boom of laughter came back to me, I told myself to take things I bit more lightly. I was in a room with new people to meet meaning new people to be friends with. I think that’s how life really works. You win some you lose some.