Unfinished Chapter 1 for Andy and Seth.

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Seth,
If words could ever amount to what I’ve gone through with you, I pray for the wisdom to gather up the words and write them down in this book just for you.
May this serve you as a reminder of me for the years to come between us.
In all, I want to thank you for being there in my life.
I love you.
-Andy

July 16th.
The night was drenched with an immense weight of summer heat. Cascades of traffic continued to flow on the highway in the distance, which stood a mile or so away from the window. It was Friday which marked the end of the first set of summer classes. Some of us stayed behind while some decided to go visit their families for a few weeks. Like any other Friday night, I thought of going to Blue Beans with Edwin and Chris. Sure, there were plenty of other bars near campus, but this was ours. It was a place to go to habitually get drunk – not from the drinks, but from the atmosphere. It was the combination of the sea of voices, a basket of fries, and a line of familiar music that drowned out the grayness from our lives. A couple of times, we’ve spotted some pretty girls there at the Blue Beans. But none of us had the balls to actually make a move. Actually, I remember that one time when Edwin went up to this chick. But that didn’t go very well. I mean, he has his own charms and appeals, but there was something that he lacked and it was the ability to keep his wandering eyes from running up and down the body of the girl he was talking to. Chris was a man of few words and kept his cool even when he saw a girl who he thought was really pretty. He’d simply stare at them, blush, grin, then shake his head a little, and drink a bit. Being a pretty tall guy, Chris could probably drink a lot more than Edwin and I, but he usually stopped after a bottle or two.

Well, this night was different. Both Edwin and Chris were out of town, those bastards. Edwin wanted to take a break away from the school and Chris had a family birthday to attend to. It was appropriate though, because I’ve been wanting to celebrate my second “Officially Not Having A Girlfriend Anymore” week on my own.

It was around 9pm or so. After watching a bit of my favorite shows on the TV, I decided to go out for some food. As I started to walk towards Blue Beans, I felt the urge to go somewhere different this time. It would be a bit awkward to go there without Edwin and Chris anyway. By the time I got to the corner of Oak Branch and East Carol Boulevard, I stopped and looked around a bit. God, it was a hot evening. I glanced again at the Blue Beans which was only two blocks down, but still felt a bit weird about going there. The neon signs and wandering peers on the street made me feel a bit conscious of myself and my slow decision-making. How was I to know which bar was quieter than the other? So in the end, without thinking, I just crossed the Oak Branch Street and went into the Greece-Monkey instead. It was the nearest bar and I didn’t want to stand around on the sidewalk in a death-defying heat of summer.

Unfortunately, the place wasn’t as quiet as I hoped it’d be. But compared to the Blue Beans, it had considerably fewer people, and the music was performed live. Judging from the atmosphere and the people, this place was more like a coffee house, but they still served beer. Most of the people there were sitting around the stage where the music was coming from; leaving the bar nearly empty. As I walked up, the barkeep was already having a conversation with a guy who rested his arms on the table and his head lowered. At first, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but as I sat near the guy to order a drink from the barkeep, I heard him say some things about how he broke up with his girlfriend recently.

As I leaned my head back to slosh-down a bit of my first pint, I saw the chum next to me from the corner of my eyes. He was most likely a freshman or a sophomore, judging from the fact that he was wearing his high school shirt which clearly indicated “Class of ‘10”. He seemed a bit more drunk than I thought he’d be, though. His entire upper-body weight rested on his lean arms on the table, and his head kept swaying a little side to side. He had on a pair of black, bold-framed glasses which seemed to have drooped down on the bridge of his nose a little too far. He kept going on about how he “should have seen it coming” or “I don’t understand her at all”.

“Girls,” I said, “ah, girls...” I slightly turned my head towards my right, just enough for me to see his reaction. The guy turned his head to the left and looked at me as if he didn’t notice me there all this time. His eyes were blue and they stood out vividly against his tan coat. His eyes were blue and they sent a rush of chill down my back. But in those eyes of blue, or perhaps in their gestures, I saw no reservation for coldness or hostility. After a few seconds of finally realizing that I’ve been here, he smiled and said, “yeah… girls.” He was shy and didn’t say much after that. Maybe he grew a bit conscious of himself in the presence of a stranger, or perhaps he didn’t want to share too much of his life with people whom he may not see again in the future. Even for me, the silence was getting to me – both the awkwardness and loneliness was getting the best of me. After having another sip of beer, I decided to get the guy to talk his problems out of his system.

“So, what’s the story behind your girl problem?” I asked. “If it’s okay with you,” I added. He immediately let out a sigh. Then, as he turned around in his seat towards me, he rested the side of his head on his right hand and looked off into the distance. I could see that he was trying to decide where to start explaining to me, until he let out another sigh and began to talk. “The girl I was going out with… I’ve been with her for almost three years now.”
I nodded.
“Exactly three years. Two weeks ago was our anniversary.”
I nodded again and took a sip. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But… she broke up with me and… and went for this other guy.”