Not Real. Not Imaginary.

PART FIVE: NINA. [Surprisingly not frightening]

I was really surprised to see that face….

She was just as pretty as the first time I had seen her. Everything was almost the same, except her hair; it had grown a little, and she had light blue highlights that really popped between the raven blackness of her hair; somehow, it really matched with her style. She had a pair of worn-out jeans on, a simple white tank top, a black leather jacket and pair of combat boots.

“Robin!” I yelled in excitement and threw my arms around her neck, pulling her towards me.

“Nina! I haven’t seen you in…gosh how long has it been?”

She didn’t seem flustered at all at the fact that some girl, had just jumped at her and hugged her so tightly, without even giving her time to react.

“I think it’s been at least ten years. Right?” I heard my own voice, and couldn’t recognize it. It had been a while since the last time I sounded so…happy….

I pulled away, a bit more gently than how I had received her, and then I looked at her. I was so happy I could feel my cheeks starting to hurt, because my face was not big enough for the smile I had on my lips in that moment.

“Wow! That long?! And…who would’ve thought I would meet you here, after all these years?” She seemed as excited as me, but she kept her composure so much better....

“I know. That’s so…convenient! We can catch up and…” I was flustered and at a loss of words after the thrill I felt for seeing my old friend once again, and I couldn’t even find the words I was looking for.

“I’m so glad I picked this place now. I was about to pick another apartment at the opposite side of town…but I am glad I picked this one instead.” She spoke as she noticed I was having troubles to communicate.

“Your hair is longer.” I suddenly blurted out.

I almost faced palmed myself as soon as those words slipped through my lips. My speech seemed to be momentarily broken due to the impression, and I just blabbered the first thing that came to my mind…and now, I was really embarrassed.

I felt the warmth of the blush rushing to my cheeks, as I wished the door would get in the way again to hide my shame. Despite how dumb I felt, she giggled and gently patted my head, making me feel like a child again.

Suddenly, all those memories of the times she took care of me back in college, all those times she made sure I was eating properly, all those times she made sure I had everything I needed, and all those moments we spent together, just being goofy, came rushing back, making me nostalgic.

“I missed you...” She revealed and then gave me a small, quick, and gentle hug.

“I…I missed you too…” I answered shyly.

The truth is that I hadn’t thought about her in a while…but as soon as I saw her…it was like if…I suddenly realized I had not dealt with the separation from her, on purpose, so I could spare myself the pain. And now, I didn’t have to deal with the pain of missing her because she was in front of me.

“Oh my…I should probably invite you in. I am not being very polite right now.”

She chuckled, and walked in after I moved aside, inviting her inside. I closed the door and turned around. Then, I noticed Greer was at my side looking at me and at Robin, confused, as if she didn’t know what was happening now. I just gave her an apologetic look, and thought to myself that I would explain everything later, and she seemed to understand it, because she nodded and smiled reassuringly.

“You have a lovely place.” Robin spoke startling me momentarily.

I looked in her direction, quickly, trying to make sure she hadn’t seen me ‘communicating’ with Greer.

“It is, it is very nice. I am very thankful to have gotten it.” I heard a hint of sadness in my own voice.

I thought about the reasons that led me here, and how I thought I would always feel safe here…until now. She must’ve notice, because she looked at me in a very quizzical way, but, as it was typical of her, she didn’t press on it. She was the kind of person that wouldn’t press about a subject if she noticed it really affected you. She was…thoughtful.

“Are you thirsty? Hungry? Would you like some…uh…ice cream?” I panicked and walked around the kitchen, trying to take note of all I had to offer her. I never really got visits…other than Terry, and even so, I was always so nervous...even if i didn't make it entirely evident.

“A glass of water would be fine.” She stood in front of the living room, looking at me as she slid her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She smiled kindly at me, as if telling me to relax; in response, i took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

I took a glass and as I was filling it, I took a couple more deep breaths to calm down a little. I was nervous, and if I didn’t clear my head, I would end up flustered and…unable to actually say things…like before.

“Here you go. Please take a seat…” I gave her the glass and motioned towards the sofa.

I thought it was very rude of me to keep my guest waiting, and standing in the middle of the room without inviting her to sit. I felt like a terrible host, but I knew she didn’t really mind. She was that kind.

She took a sip of water as she looked around again, and then her eyes fell on me…

“I knew if anyone from back then would get a good living afterwards, it was you. Even after you just left…” She leaned back in her seat after taking another sip of water

“Well, I actually have a lot of help. I wouldn’t have all of this if it wasn’t for Terry...” I replied shyly. I suddenly felt like I didn’t deserve any of this, I hadn’t really worked as hard as Terry…or as Robin probably had to.

“Terry?” She tilted her head as she looked at me, expectant for me to explain.

“Oh yeah…uhm…Terry is a friend I met a while ago, and she helped me get this place.” I didn’t really know how to explain, but I realized that wasn’t the right way, as she looked at me, even more confused. “I guess you could say she is also my employer. I work for her as a personal masseuse and, well, we developed a friendship over the years…”

She seemed not to be entirely satisfied with my answer, but nodded anyways and decided not to press any further…again. Probably because she saw me struggling to explain logically, and fidgeting uncomfortably as i thought about the whole situation of liking Terry AND Greer.

“You know? I was really sad when you left. You were like the glue that kept our little group together.... After you left…” She stopped for a moment looking down sadly as she fidgeted with the now empty glass in her hands. “After you left…things just weren’t the same. We started to fight continuously, about the dumbest things…” she scoffed, at herself…or so it seemed.

“I didn’t know…I should’ve stayed in contact…” I reached towards her and placed my hand on hers, she looked at my hand and smiled nostalgically.

“After all this time, and after all I’ve learned over the years, I realize…looking back at then, that the thing that separated us…it was really not worth fighting for at all. It was so dumb. I kind of miss them all…but I sure missed you the most!” She said as she placed her other hand over mine.

I looked down at our hands, a small smile came to my face. I don’t think that I had ever touched her hand like this before, nor that she ever did either. I sighed, thinking of how nice it would’ve been back then…thinking…maybe then, if I could’ve had the courage to tell her how I felt...then maybe we could've....

“I think you got prettier…” She suddenly blurted out.

Her words caught me off guard and I felt the blush manifesting on my cheeks again, as I lost my train of thought.

At that moment I realized, the reason I was so flustered and nervous was because…I had my college crush there, right in front of me…after all that time…she was there.