Life is strange.
That's one of Meena's favorite statements, and probably the truest thing she's ever said.
I saw Girl B at a club last night, hanging all over some guy. It wasn't great for my mood. I got fed up with it and decided to go for a walk, hoping that by the time I got back maybe there would be at least a hair more room between them.
I walked to ESD, and just as I was entering a hand grabbed at th back of my shirt. It was Nathalie, she smiled at me and said hello. I was in a lousy mood though so we didn't really say more, I just walked into the diner and turned towards the table where Chris and Nathalie's Boyfriend (Richard) were sitting. At that point Nathalie shouldered past me and pulled Chris away from the table, she spoke to him quietly, but in a very angry tone. Apparently she'd had a big fight with Richard.
After she finished talking to Chris she turned to leave, but I was standing in her way. I asked her if she wished to go for a walk, and she said she did. So we left ESD together, but I noticed the hurt look on Richard's face, and he was comming after her. I told her to slow down, that Richard was trying to say something to her, but she wouldn't listen.
Richard came running out of ESD, and past me in his attempt to talk to Nathalie. Making a point to tell me he would take care of it has he passed.
Nathalie has long said that I am like a brother to her, and unlike when other girls tell me this, I actually agree with her. Nathalie is my sister, and so I was pretty worried about what might be going on. Still, whatever thier problem was it was none of my business unless she chose to make it so, and she hadn't. Besides, Richard loves her, and I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
So I let Richard pass me, and I let him catch Nathalie. I stayed a block away so that they could have thier space, but remained close enough to support Nathalie if their conversation didn't go well.
I don't know yet how thier conversation went, I know they hugged, and I know that Richard came back to get his stuff from ESD. When he walked up to me on his way past I asked him if they'd worked things out. He told me he wasn't sure, but that he was going to walk her home and they would talk.
Richard: "Thanks James"
Me: "For what?" I didn't understand what he could possibly be thanking me for, I'd done nothing to help him.
Richard: "For being you"
I still don't understand this statement, but I let it pass. Together we returned to ESD, he grabbed his stuff and went to walk Nathalie home. I waited for Chris to pay his bill, and walked with him back to Barrymores.
Chris and I talked a lot on the way to Barrymores, mostly about Girl B, and about what Richard had said.
Chris surprised me many times during this conversation. He told me that Richard respects me a great deal because he knows I have Nathalie's best interests at heart. I pointed out that I tend to be protective of all my friends.
Chris: "Yeah, I still can't believe you pull me up short."
Me: "What?"
Chris: "With *enter name*, whenever you see me making that mistake you get mad at me. Nobody does that for me."
I laughed and joked with him for a minute about how he always makes the same mistakes. Then we got to talking about relationships, and romance. I told him why I had fled Barrymores earlier, and why I wasn't to anxious to return.
Chris: "Eventually a little light is going to go off in he head.."
Me: *laugh* "I doubt it, but it's a nice thought. Women don't make any sense."
When we got back to Barrymores she was still hanging all over that guy, and my mood soured again. Strangely, Chris came to my rescue. He started pointing out girls in the club, he said he was "cruising for chicks for me."
What he was really trying to do was cheer me up, and it surprised me to no end.
I have never had a lot of male friends, I don't like men in general. I get along with them to a limited extent, but I'm not overly fond of them as a gender. So that vast majority of my friendships are women, and it has been this way all my life. It's only recently that I've added a few male friends to the list. Bryan, Chris, Richard, and maybe a few aquantiances.
Friends are something special to me, they are people I actually care about. It means that I care when something upsets them, or something bad happens in thier lives. It means I'll try to watch out for them. It doesn't require that they feel the same.
I knew Bryan was the same way, and that's why he's probably the best male friend I've ever had. It never occured to me though that either Chris or Richard really cared enough about me to act as they had. Richard thanking me for being me? Chris trying to reassure me, and to try cheering me up? These are not things I expected, and I even looking back on them a day later I find them hard to comprehend. How did it happen? How did I come to consider them friends without realizing it went both ways?
I'm not sure what to conclude. I wasn't prepared for my male friends to care about me, much less appreciate me.
Life is strange.