The Mystery!

The Mystery!

The Mystery!
By Dave Scheidt

The place was pretty crowded, enough of that I could remember. It was a younger crowd then usual, everyone seemed to be dressed well enough for a nicer setting, but alas they were all in the same shit-hole I was in. I took a breath, swallowed the lump in my throat and shot my drink down the hatch. Music blared, bounced off the muraled walls and filled the room. I couldn't recall what song it was, but it was heavy and fast enough for most people there to enjoy it.

I kind of made it a habit lately, to frequent places where people didn't know who I was. Sure occasionally I'd bump into a familiar face, but I tend to ignore situations like that. By no means is it a me being a creep or anything, I just prefer to have an element of uncertainty. I think once you get to know someone, once you 'figure them out', the mystique fades and that's half the fun.

So there I sat, leaning against the wall as the loud bass shook and vibrated the building. I sat there fiddling around with my phone and sipping my drink as the song on the jukebox changed. I've heard the song before but I couldn't place it. I glanced around the room and there were more people piling in. There seemed to be a pretty good mixture of people in the joint, and the guy girl ratio was in my favor.

I can't really say any one particular girl seemed to catch my eye immediately, but I really wasn't in the soul seeking mood that night. More songs played and more people crammed in the place. I decided that standing in the corner wasn't particularly the best spot in here so I decided to stretch my legs and walk around a bit. I got about two feet from where I was standing and realized there was no real walking room, so I said fuck it and walked out to get some air.

It still was pretty cold that night, and I definitely regretted not dressing warmer. The air smelled like snow and cigarette smoke. So there I stood, just lurking around, while everyone smoked and made out. I glanced to my left and a group of girls stood smoking and laughing at some odd inside joke. I looked over probably with a weird look on my face and locked eyes with one of the girls.

She was small and cute but her spirit made up for her little frame ten fold. I smirked as one of her friends made a very loud and obnoxious noise and shook my head back and fourth. I really had no idea what they were talking about, and that didn't matter because I wasn't listening, I was transfixed on the gal who kept glancing over at me. Was she looking at me because I was looking at her? I know sometimes I can come off as a creep,but surely this wasn't the case?

I let out a brief chuckle of awkwardness, waved over to her and then put my hands in my pockets. She looked nervous as well, but said something to her friends then walked over to me, as her friends looked at me and seemed to poke fun of her. Maybe they were poking fun of me? I didn't know and didn't care, because the girl I couldn't keep my eyes off of was walking right towards me dead center.

She was heading right towards me, and in a situation like this there is never any time to prepare what to say or fix your hair or anything like that. you had to wing it or run the risk of looking like a complete idiot, which I have a pretty good track record of.

I was nervous and my introduction was obviously awkward, since I was convinced she'd bring up the fact that I'd been staring at her the past 5 minutes but alas she spoke. Her voice didn't sound like I expected it too, it was a lot softer, her voice was calming, like a singer.

We joked around about the eclectic group of people, the smelly guy next to us and the outrageously priced liquor. 5 minutes turned into 30 minutes and there it was, last call. I told her how it was nice meeting her, and she asked if she thought we'd ever bump into each other again. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. I looked her in the eyes and said goodbye. I left her standing with a smile and the gift I missed ever so much, the mystery!

February 28, 2009