Almost Familiar

(Part 1: The Beginning)

It started one day when my cousin mentioned him .

He told me about a new boy who had just joined to my school. He was still new to everything around him -new faces, new environment , new routine .Two years older than me, quiet, and unfamiliar to most students.

My cousin casually asked me if I could try talking to him, just to help him settle settle a bit. it didn't sound like something serious at first. just a small request. Something easy to say yes to and forget later.

But somehow , it stayed in my mind. In a curious way .

I didn't meet him in a formal way. the first time I actually noticed him was on the school bus-and it also happened to be his very first day .

The bus was the usual morning chaos . Loud conversations , shifting seats , students half-awake , windows slightly fogged .Everything felt normal like every other days.

Until I noticed someone unfamiliar. Without school uniforms .

A new face sat quietly among everyone else . Not trying to stand out , not interacting much-just adjusting to a space that already felt routine to everyone except him .

Curiosity made me ask who he was .

when one of my friend mentioned his nickname, it finally made sense. That was the same boy my cousin has told me about earlier . The new one .

But even after realizing that , I didn't immediately go and talk to him.

There was hesitation . It wasn't easy starting a conversation with someone new, especially someone who looked so reserved . I kept thinking- what if he ignores me ? what if it becomes awkward? what if I mess it up?

Still , I remembered my cousin's request . And that was enough for me to try .

So I did .

And I tried to start a conversation with him . I began by mentioning my cousin's name , thinking it would make things easier between us -like a small bridge to connect us .

But in that moment, I made a mistake .

I mispronounced the initial of my cousin's name . It wasn't I even realized at first .It felt small , almost nothing .But the reaction told me otherwise .

He responded briefly , but it was distend .Like something didn't match properly, like the way I said it didn't connect to whom he is actually thinking about .

The conversation faded quickly after that . Neither of us really knew what to say next . Even though I repeated my cousin's name and asked him doesn't he really knows him , he just ignored those .And the silence slowly took over again.

But I wasn't ready to leave him without permitting that he knows my cousin . And when the bus kept moving closer to school , something changed slightly.

Just before we reached our stop ,he spoke again.

He mentioned that he actually had a friend with a similar name-but not with the initial I used . It wasn't a long conversation, just a small clarification, but it felt different from before .

For a moment, it didn't feel completely closed off anymore.

And strangely ,that small sentence gave me a little hope that maybe things weren't completely awkward between us . Maybe it wasn't the end of the conversation before it even started .

After that, we got off the bus and went our separate ways .

The school day began as usual , but something about that short exchange stayed in my mind longer than expected.

That one new boy stayed in my mind the whole day .And I informed about that to my friend though.

The were also curious about him.

It wanted to be just a normal day but the little conversation between that , changed my whole day .Even after reaching home I just could not sit patiently. And I was thinking all about the new boy .

The one cousin who introduced the new one two me was totally helpless as he moved to hostel.

But I tried to find him on social media .

But I could not find his account on that.

Just tired by sitting with confusions.

I didn't even realized he's going to make my life as a twisting machine/a peaceful life to a horror movie. Or going to make my faith for people dead .

At last , We were still strangers .

But not entirely closed doors anymore .

Not yet.