First Encounter

“Please stop missing me so much as I might not live long”

How would you feel if someone you held close to you told you that? Well, that’s how I felt.

I first met her at a drinking game night during Julie’s birthday party. She looked ordinary. The round neck she wore did not frame her chin very well. The transparent-square frame of her glasses did not frame her eyes as well. If you don’t look for her, you’d almost miss her existence.

But, that’s my type.

“Why did you pick a transparent frame, it doesn’t go well with your face?” I tried to break the ice, half concerned that it came off as too intrusive.

Well, it did. She almost frowned but put on a smile and said, “So that you won’t notice it?” and rolled her eyes.

The ice froze.

But much to everyone or perhaps only to my surprise, she had an incredible tolerance to alcohol. She was barely drunk while everyone else on the table had already passed out.

“Why are you drinking orange juice at a drinking party?”

She must have been bored out of her skull that she finally chose to speak to me. She still didn’t even look at me though. Her slender hands moved swiftly to prepare another shot of Mango Sunset.

“I am the driver”

“Fair enough”

“But I think you can also drive just fine”

“Nope, I am too drunk” she lets out a chuckle.

SHE LETS OUT A CHUCKLE.

What a loser I am.

“Well, welcome on board, I guess”

“Haha, you’re not as lame as I thought you would be”

“I am surprised you don’t think that’s lame”

“Well, I never said it wasn’t lame, just not as lame as I thought you’d be”

“Fair enough”

“Copying me, huh?” she chuckled again. “Well, Mr. Lame, what major?”

“Now that’s disrespectful, we go to the same class”

“Really? Are you an NPC or something? Never seen you in class before.”

And I thought she was the invisible one.

“Welp, hopefully you will see me in class from now on”

“Hopefully”

“I meant to ask… how come you’re not as drunk as others”

She paused for a good time. “It’s just genetics I guess”

“Strong genes”

“Not so strong apparently"

“What?”

“Nothing”

By then, she was almost done preparing the tequila shots. To my surprise, she prepared two shots.

“Try”

“I would rather not”

“One shot won’t make you drunk”

“Well it starts with one shot”

“I won’t be making anymore after this”

“Well, that’s good for you”

She pushed the shot glass towards me with her fingertips.

“One sip, just tell me how it tastes.”

I… gave in to peer pressure and took a sip and immediately clenched every muscle of my face.

“How do you even drink this? So bitter!”

“Bitter?”

“You don’t feel it?”

“No, it’s sweet.”

“Not at all” I reached for my orange juice.

“Well, I guess that’s a negative review then,” she chuckled again.

“Absolutely, zero out of ten.”

“You will get used to it,” she smiled.

“No ma’am.”

“Lenon, I think it’s time to wrap up,” Julie waved at me from the other table.

“Yup, I think so” I replied.

“The fun is over, I guess,” she remarked.

“Yes, ma’am”

“Stop calling me ma’am, you dumbass. I ain’t that old.”

“Sure, milady. Now, if you may please proceed to the car.”

The ride back to the campus felt like a dream. As it turned out, the ice got shattered into pieces and put in her tequila shots. Under the dim street lights of the city, we talked about all sorts of things as I drove - shitty professors, high school crushes and what not. And, we also discovered some common interests. We both liked songs by Olivia Rodrigo and even sang a few together.

“See you tomorrow in class” I told her as she got off at her dorm.

“We’ll see”

That was weird, I thought. “Maybe she is just teasing”

…

The next morning, in class, there were no signs of her.

After that night, I never saw her again.

“Maybe she is just teasing” I wish

And to make things worse, I did not even know her name.

After about a week, I finally mustered up enough courage to ask Julie about her.

“Hey, do you know what happened to the girl I was sitting beside of during the drinking game?”

“Sophia?”

“I do not know her name.”

“Oh yeah, she’s Sophia. The girl who was wearing the black t-shirt, right?”

“Yes”

“Yeah I haven’t seen her for quite some time as well. Has anything happened to her?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that she had been missing since that night.”

“You dropped her off at her dorm, right?”

“Yes”

“Then don’t worry, it’s not your responsibility”

“I guess. But still, I wonder what happened to her”

…

“Sophia” I looked up the contact book on Outlook but in vain, “There are so many Sophia’s”.

All my efforts to know about her whereabouts failed. The professor didn’t know, the administration didn’t know. All I could find out was that her parents came in the morning after the drinking party and they left the university campus.

Did she go home or something? I thought. But it’s the middle of the semester?

A few months passed and it was almost time for the final exams. I kept looking for her but it wasn’t my central focus anymore.

On the first day of the exams, however, I saw a familiar face. Sophia.