10 Who Are You?

          Alright... I'm walking. Good, I think. Do I think? Gosh, I must be tired. I'm walking. There's somebody walking ahead of me. I need to talk to them.

          I walked up to him and, I don't know, stopped right in front of him and, after a second, out of politeness, he said, “Hi, there...”

          “Oh, hi!” was my brilliant response.

          There was a pause, then, “Do I know you?”

          As was only natural, I responded, “I think I've seen you before.”

          The stranger looked almost blankly back at me; no I don't know him! Or, I do know him (oh I know him!) but no, he doesn't know me! Duh! He tilted his head, looking me up and down, trying to recognize me. This made me extremely self-conscious. Then, out of politeness, I suppose, he said “Well, now that you mention it, you do look kind of familiar...” There was a beat, then he scratched behind his ear uneasily. Duh, he wanted to leave, he's probably got better things to do than to talk to a creepy stranger such as yours truly, but Dude... I really don't want to let him get away. How can I get his number, or e-mail, or SomeThing! Anything. Start small... small, like what's his name? And it hit me all at once that I don't know his name. What? How can I not know his name? I need to know his name. I need to have some contact information before he gets too weirded out and leaves, or I swear I'll go insane.

          He smiled a little sheepishly and tucked some hair behind his ear. I was just standing there being stupid, not moving, having a conversation with myself in my head. OKAY, already! I'll ask! So I stick out my hand before I can think and say “So, my name's Narrie!” and a brief awkward pause, “Uhh, Nigami. Narrie Nigami.” I don't know why he needed my last name, or a repetition of my full name, but there. He just looks oddly at my outstretched hand and tilts his head again. Then after another moment, he shakes my hand and says,

           “Drake... uh... Drake Evans” our handshake goes on too long because neither of us are formal enough to know how to give or receive a proper handshake. And our arms go kind of limp and I awkwardly take my hand away from his. And I don't know what to do because it's me and so I bite my lips together and smile at the same time, and feel like a new brand of dork.

Author's Note

Suggestions are very welcome!