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There she was. It was the perfect opportunity.
I shifted around on the sofa, reclining a bit more, sending a cloud of dust rising through the sunbeams. I blew at the grey wisp, and watched as all the little particles whipped into a spiral motion. I peeked to my right again, to where she was sitting with a friend. I spread out a bit on the little sofa, sitting on my hands for no particular reason.
I sighed. It would only be a month or so until I left this place. Only a month to get to know her. Only a month more to suffer the agony of being so near her, but not even knowing her name. I scratched my head, and some dust came off it. The dust in this room had always been so thick. It's very badly ventilated. The windows don't open; they were painted shut years ago. And the chairs have never been dusted.
My eyes wandered across the walls, occasionally stopping to read the ripped posters yet again. I leaned back even further on the sofa. If I went over there now and introduced myself to her, we could get talking. I'm sure she'd like me. She seems to like everyone else. And she sounds like such an interesting person. She's very pretty too - except her face looks small. It's only because she wears her hair really big.
I pulled one of the hairs from my fringe down to the bridge of my nose, and crossed my eyes to look at it. I needed a haircut. I could walk downtown and get one done today. I could do that now, but I'd only feel as if I'd missed another golden opportunity to meet her. At least if I stayed here I could say I tried. She might come to me.
My nose felt tickly. I hate that. When you want to sneeze, but you can't. I sniffed. I had no luck with girls. It's not that I'm shy - I'm not, it's just... Well, anyway, it would look silly if I went up to her now and introduced myself. We've been coming here every day for years; it would be strange if I admitted that I didn't know her. She probably already knows my name anyway.
I strained to hear what they were talking about. Girls are so good at small talk. There's never a pause in their conversation. I wish I could do that. My eyes started drooping. I felt sleepy. I pictured myself walking over to them and saying hello. She would say hi and invite me to sit down, just to be polite. I would initiate a conversation with something small, like "the weather's nice," or "how are you doing?" We would talk, hesitantly at first, then we'd start to find some common interests; "I love tennis!" and "that's my brother's birthday too!"
It would all go swimmingly well...
I looked around the room. It was all a bit hazy. Curiously, the posters seemed to be intact. I got up, and sort of subtly drifted towards my dream girl. I stood above the chatting pair, and shuffled a bit to make my presence known. They carried on talking, so I sat down. I waited for an apparently suitable pause in the conversation... I waited to say hi and introduce myself... but they kept on talking, oblivious of my intrusion...
My eyes snapped open. I had fallen asleep. I was still on the sofa; the two girls were still in the corner by the door. I sat up and wiped my mouth, clenching my jaw involuntarily. I looked at the clock on the wall and automatically added ten minutes. It had always been ten minutes slow; no one had ever bothered to correct it. It was nearly time to go. This would be my last chance. Again. I had to get up now and talk to her.
I purposefully took my hands from under my bum and leaned forward to get up. I paused. She was just leaving. I stood and walked towards her.
And like every other day, I walked straight past her without even making eye contact.
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