Blast from the Past

1

      She was known as a quiet and introverted girl, or asssumed to be, since she often kept to herself.  Joel knew her from church, and although he wasn't a very friendly person himself, her 'alienation' was noticeable even to him.  That seemed years ago.  He had long since changed churches by then and had gained more self-esteem with the current bunch of young people he hung out with.  They seemed to understand him better than those of his former church.  It was weird though, that her image popped up in his head.  She was no beauty; she had short, black hair, crooked teeth and glasses.  Her manner was one similar to a person ashamed of his or her appearance, which turned him off completely.  She was smart though.  A brilliant mind residing in an insecure body.  One of life's many ironies.
   
      It was one of those days, where the sun was unmercifully hot. Additionally, the worries accompanying the freshman year of university was weighing on his mind.  A laugh descended on him like a sweet balm; its sound filled with merriment and class.  A cultured laugh.  Slowly, he turned around to face a girl, her face smiling with other girls, the laughter threatening to escape those teeth.  He looked closely; he recognized those teeth, now halfway concealed by the silver wires of her braces.  He looked at her face, she still had glasses, but they were smaller and more modern.  Her hair had grown out and was long and straight against her shoulders.  Maybe it was a weave, but it took her nicely.
 
      Her mouth closed suddenly and thinned. Joel realized that he had been staring and now the group of girls were watching him, obviously annoyed.
"Wat happen, yuh neva see gyurl before?" one of them asked derisively.  The others laughed save for the girl, who was watching him, her eyes narrowed in concentration, matching her mouth.  Suddenly, they opened wide.
"Jo-el." said she, sing songing the syllables of his name, "Long time no see."  She was smiling now.  He smiled also, but his face must have shown his lack of recognition.  She giggled.
"I went to the same church like you.  St. Bethel, remember?"  He shook his head.  She laughed again. "I don't blame you.  I wasn't that friendly then."  Her hand extended towards him.  "My name's Pauline."  He took her hand, enjoying the feel of her silky smooth skin against his palm.  'So that was her name,' he thought.  'The years have sure been good to her.'
"So do you still attend St. Bethel?" he asked.  Her friends moved around restlessly, wanting to continue walking. She ignored them.
"No, I left there a few years now."  She smiled up at him.  Despite the braces, she had a pretty smile.
"So, what's your major, if you don't mind me asking?" he said.  She shook her head.
"I don't mind.  I do psychology, and I'll be late if I stay here talking, so I gotta go."  Her friends were halfway dragging her by this point.  "I'll see you around," she called out, waving.  He waved in return, then watched as they rushed towards the tall brick buildings ahead.
*****
    "Psst! Joel!" an insistent voice hissed, disturbing him from his pleasant daydream.  Joel ignored it, continuing to stare blankly.  He was in a park, sitting on a bench with Pauline.  They weren't talking, but the silence was comfortable.  If there was one thing he appreciated in a girl, it was the ability for her to feel comfortable in times of no conversation.  They were just content being around each other and enjoying their surroundings.

      A poke in the ribs jolted him uncomfortably back to reality.  He turned to glare at his friend Marc, who was grinning widely, "You could've just called, you know."
"I did, but you studiously ignored me," Marc replied matter-of-factly.  "Besides, it's time for our 'favourite' class."  Joel groaned.  Statistics was his least liked subject, and his dislike was compounded by the fact that the lecturer was quite sadistic at times.
"Can't we skip it this time?" he implored his friend, who was packing his books into his backpack.  "I bet we won't even miss anything substantial."
Marc shook his head, "Hurry up. I don't want to be late."  Seeing that it was futile to even try to reason with Marc (he had that determined look on his face), Joel reluctantly obliged.  He tried not to be too annoyed with Marc since it was because of his good work ethic that he, Joel, was able to maintain a good GPA so far.

      A rush of hot air assaulted their faces as they exited the air-conditioned comfort of the library.  The dry season in the Caribbean was usually hot, but due to a suspected drought, the sun's rays seemed particularly malicious.  Automatically, Joel pulled his backpack over his head, blocking the sun from attacking his head, whose hair was low.
Marc chuckled, "You can't take a lil sun boy?"
"I not looking to get a headache before I go to class."  They headed in the direction of the engineering buildings.
"So, what were you daydreamin' about in the library boy? I callin' you long long time and you not takin' me on," inquired Marc as they finally entered the Civil Engineering block, the cool air a welcome respite from the clinging heat.
"Nothing," Joel answered quickly and instantly regretted it.  Marc was annoyingly perceptive at times, and his immediate answer would be sure to trigger him.  Just as he expected, Marc stopped and turned towards him, a skeptical expression on his face.
"You sound guilty," he remarked.  Joel snorted and tried to pass Marc, but he kept blocking his path.  Annoyed, he snapped, "We're going to be late for class if we don't hurry!"
Marc glared at him, "Fine.  But we're finishing this after class."  They walked briskly towards the elevators, which were filling rapidly.  They managed to squeeze into one and were soon on their way to class.
*****
      Joel groaned, rubbing his temples as he walked.  Statistics was particularly brutal today.  They were doing tests for goodness of fit using Chi-Squared distribution tables, and he had no idea how to read those tables.  Actually, no one did, with the exception of Marc, the freak.  The sadistic lecturer, Monika Franklyn, after embarrassing a few students- himself included- made everyone complete problems which needed the use of the Chi-Squared distribution.  If it wasn't for Marc, his head would still be spinning.  Things like Math and Stats came naturally to him.

      The sun had cooled considerably, its rays peeking from behind some cloud cover.  He and Marc were making their way towards the Student Centre, a small quadrangle which featured a cafeteria, dining area, a mini grocery and lockers.  Upstairs was the games room and the computer lab.  They were both ravenous; a class requiring much brain matter often did that.
     
      Entering the line for Hot 'n' Yummy Grillz, a barbecue and jerk chicken restaurant, Marc turned to face Joel.  Joel rolled his eyes.  Here we go again.
"So are you going to tell me willingly or am I going to have to force you?"  Joel sighed.  He didn't want a repeat of the last time he refused.  Let's just say that it was quite embarrassing.
"I saw a girl a few weeks ago.  She used to go to my church," he said reluctantly.
"And?" Marc prodded.
"We said 'hi' and 'bye'," Joel shrugged.
"That's it?!?"
"Sorry to burst your bubble pal.  You're next," Joel replied, gesturing towards the counter.  Suddenly, he picked up a familiar scent, floral, but light.  He spun around just in time to see the girl walking in the opposite direction, books in hand, her head straight.  Her name escaped his lips; she spun around startled, then beamed in recognition.
"Jo-el," she said in her teasing sing-song.  "You remembered."  He suddenly felt shy.
"How's it going?" he said, silently berating himself for asking such a lame question.
"Hot!" she exclaimed laughingly.  "I'm going to the lockers now.  See ya."  He stared until she disappeared from his view, then turned to face his smirking friend.
"I got you something," Marc said, one eyebrow arched, placing a Styrofoam container in his hands.  "Am I to presume she's the girl?"
Joel nodded wordlessly.


2

Joel could scarcely concentrate in youth meeting.  It was Friday, exactly three days since he last saw her in the Student Centre.  He could only think of her smile and her newfound confidence.  He realized that he was impatient to see her again.  Hopefully the next time he won't say anything as stupid as 'how's it going?'

Youth meeting that evening was typical.  They were having a discussion on sexuality, and how it pertained to the young adult.  This was a generally popular topic for obvious reasons, but today it just irritated Joel.  He felt as though he heard it all before.
"You're very quiet today," remarked the moderator slash youth pastor, Kwame, to Joel.  "Care to add a little to the discussion?"  Some of the participants turned to watch him.  Joel shook his head wearily; he could not wait for this session to end.

After what seemed like an eternity- which was in actuality a half hour- they were dismissed.  As Joel was looking to leave, the youth pastor motioned towards him.
"Can I see you for a moment?" he asked.  Joel grudgingly agreed.