Here I am again. Sunday night and I'm bored out of my brains. The few friends I have are always too damn busy to pay much attention to me, but then again I guess I don't really mind – I've always been a quiet sort of person who doesn't socialise much and is quite happy to stay home and do my own thing. I guess this was my comfort zone. The only place where I could really be myself and relax. Going to pubs, nightclubs and wild parties was not really my thing, even though I would go every now and then. Also, I'm only eighteen and the pub and nightclub scene is fairly new to me – my Dad plays in a cover band at bars all over the city (we live in Adelaide, South Australia) and he's suggested that I come out and watch a few times. I have to admit I saw some pretty ugly shit when I went to these places – struggling to have a conversation with drunken idiots and avoiding puddles of puke on the toilet room floor just didn't seem very...glamorous. For me, this wasn't exactly the ideal place for me to meet 'the' girl. That was something else that bothered me – I didn't have a girlfriend. The closest girl I'd ever gotten to was back in grade 9. We 'went out' for 2 days and all we did was talk and hug. In the long term, she was more of a close friend than a girlfriend. Not that I mean to sound like all I want is sex because she was a wonderful friend to me, but everybody else my age seems to have been there and done that. Anyway, I think I'd rather get with a girl who was also a virgin. I'm not sure why. I guess I just don't want to go through those new experiences alone looking like a fumbling idiot. I want somebody to share the new emotions with. That would be pure magic.
So, anyway, I've just been messing around on my computer all night and after I decided I'm getting bored, I decided to go through some old stuff and reminisce about old times. Going through all my old things, a found a torn old folder where I kept all of my old school photos. I pulled them out and went through them. I had them arranged so that they were kept with the most recent ones on the top and the oldest ones on the bottom. I went through them and memories came flooding back to me. I got to the bottom where my grade 1 and 2 photos were and looking at the classes, a girl a few rows up from me caught my eye. Amber Williams. One of my earliest schoolyard crushes and childhood friends. She was in my grade 1 and 2 classes but left at the end of grade 2 in 1995. For quite a while I just lost myself in the memories and kept smiling to myself.
When I got tired and decided to finally go to bed, I lay down, still thinking about Amber and I couldn't help but wonder where she is and what she is doing right now. Perhaps she's changed so much that I don't want to know. Maybe I just want to keep my precious memories of her intact. But as I fell asleep I saw her face again. I was dreaming I was reunited with her. Walking into work on a rainy Monday morning, a beautiful girl walked around the corner and we came face to face. She looked a bit lost. She saw me and smiled.
"Hi. I'm supposed to start here today but I'm a bit lost", the girl beamed in a friendly voice.
"Oh, sure. I'll take you to the manager", I replied, a little jumpy from the fact that this beautiful girl was actually talking to me. I told her my name and reached out my hand for a handshake, obviously.
"Kyle"
"Amber"
My heart skipped a beat. For a second I carefully studied her face – oh my god – was it really her? She could be. Same tanned skin, soft pink lips, deep brown eyes and silky light brown hair which went just past her shoulders. Just the same as ten years ago, except the mischievous little girl I'd known was all grown up and looking absolutely gorgeous. I hadn't really noticed that I was still staring at her face but I was quickly reminded when she turned her head away, blushing but still smiling brightly. OK, so I guess I was kind of checking her out, but not just for any reason. I knew this girl.
"Sorry", I blurted out, "but I have to ask you something". She looked up at me, smiling.
"Sure! Is everything alright?"
"Yeah...your...last name...it wouldn't happen to be...Williams...would it?"
Her face brightened in surprise.
"Uh, yeah it is"
"Did you go to primary school in Queensland for grade 1 and 2? Upper Ross River Primary, right?"
"Uh, yeah"
She was looking very confused now.
"Oh my god, it's really you", I said quietly. Amber stared into my eyes for quite some time.
"Kyle? Kyle James?"
I nodded my head with a smile and her eyes lit up. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. Of course, I didn't hold back. We were both in shock. We whispered gently into each others ears.
"Amber!"
"Kyle!"