Tales from the Players 3

Tales from the players part 3

It was another calm day. The sun wasn't too bright, the wind was fairly calm and sitting here on the bench was still just as relaxing as ever, even with everything going on in the park. Everyone was pretty busy today so I figured it would still be nice to come out here alone for a bit.
"3:57 on a Friday afternoon and here I am." I muttered to myself and gave a slight chuckle. I guess as a 21 year old male, you'd think I'd have better plans for a Friday. Honestly though, it wasn't just today, I've been doing more than my fair share of self-reflecting lately. I don't know what it is, it just feels like I'm losing faith in myself for some reason. That’s the best way I can really describe it.
After a couple of deep thoughts and mysterious looks into the distance, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hi there!" I turned my heard to see Mimi smiling at me from behind the bench. "What're you doing out here alone, where is everyone else? Mind if I join you for a bit?"

"Hi, yea sure. Go for it" I slid over to one side of the bench and gestured towards the other and she took a seat. "Well I know Johnny had a game today and I'm pretty sure Tom went to go see him and I don’t know about anyone else, they might all be there as far as I know." She gave me a confused look as I explained.

"So... then why are you here?"

"No real reason...I guess I just felt like being alone today, do some soul searching, yam know?" I gave half a smile and a slight chuckle. She just stared at me; her eyes felt like tiny little needles. "What?"

"You try so hard to be deep and mysterious that I'm going to stop entertaining it. What’s going on with you?" She didn't even try to crack a smile.

"Darn! You caught me." I shot my hands in the air. "I'll confess peacefully, I've been perpetrating a mentally unstable college student with real thoughts! I'm a victim of the system, I'm sorry!" She just kept staring at me with a scowl and I stared back with a smile, hands still in air. There was a slight pause, then we both broke out into laughter.

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?" She was at least smiling now, but she was still prying for information. "Do you remember when we met? Last year?"

"Hm? Yea, I guess so. What about it?" I was confused on what this had to do with anything.

"Remember when I had been crying in the cafeteria and you came up to me and tried to help and I just got up and walked away from you?" Still a bit confused I nodded in agreement. "You didn't let me just walk away. Even though you had no clue who I was and we had never met, you were legitimately concerned about me and you were so nice I eventually let you in and broke down. It really helped me a lot...that’s something I'll remember for the rest of my life. After that day we became really good friends, I'll always be grateful." She starred at me and smiled.

"Well...it just looked like you really needed some help. Who knows, I could have just been being a creep ya know?" We laughed a bit. I turned and looked up to the sky, it was so calm out. "I guess I just wanted to help...I know there have been times where I was in a similar situation and people would just ignore me, so...I didn’t want to do that...It’s not like I do it all the time, I've definitely walked passed crying people. You just seemed a bit different, I was worried...I'm glad I stopped." She flicked me on the ear. "Ow! Why'd you do that?" I rubbed my ear slightly.

"Because, you say stuff like that, but then when you're the one who needs help you put up all these walls and make jokes till people leave you to sulk by yourself, I don't get it!" She changed from angry to a more compassionate feel. "You're not some super guru who needs to handle everyone else's problems and never talk about your own..."

"Yea, I guess you're right...sort of." I looked away from her eyes. “It’s not that I don't talk about my problems. I do sometimes, with Tom, Johnny and will if they're around...I just really prefer not to most times."

"Well, they aren't here right now." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "And it looks like you really need someone to talk to." I turned back to face her. She gave me a radiant smile. "You're a fantastic person and I'm sure all of us who depend on you for help would be really hurt if you felt like you couldn't depend on us too." I never really thought about it like that.

"...Thanks. I think I really needed to hear that. I just, haven't been feeling any type of confidence in myself as of late. I haven't felt like I've been doing anything worthwhile. I feel so ...worthless I guess. “I was looking down at the ground and out of nowhere I felt her arms wrap around me.

"You're worth so much. I don't know where I would be without you. Where any of us would be. You have no reason to feel worthless. Screw what everyone says you 'need' to be doing. You're doing a fantastic job as is." I could feel myself getting a little teary eyed.

"Thank you."

"Now come on! Stop moping around here all alone. I know someone who could definitely use some of your help right now! So let’s go buy some tickets and cheer him on!" She hopped up from her seat on the bench and extended her hand. I chuckled a bit and wiped my eyes.

"Alright, sure. Sounds good...you're buying though." she helped me up from the bench.

"Fine, but you're going to have to pay me back somehow...I like Chinese food." We laughed as we made our way towards the gym.