7/7/17

9:01 PM

Dear Gatorade,

I tried to write this letter once before

But It was too hard to sum up the encounter I had with you because no matter what words I put it in, it seemed like a lot less than it was. 

Yet, it was too randomly wonderful not to write about

So,

You:

tall, fashionable, confident

Walking somewhere?

Waiting for your ride?

With an almost dead phone?

On a hot day just past noon?

Me:

strange, sweating, afraid

Sitting on the ground

Playing guitar

Sitting where I was because I was trying to avoid people

Singing to myself

So, you sat down.

Let me explain: I'd thought about it so many times, what I would do if someone actually said something to me while I was sitting out there, talked to me, came over to me, and most options included calmly getting up and walking away. 

But I didn't

You didn't it so nonchalantly that you seemed to belong there more than I did

Like an audience member assuming her assigned seat. 

I stopped playing, of course

-Startled

-A little scared

-Embarrassed (I hoped you hadn't heard me singing)

And you said, oh, I feel bad now. Don't stop playing. I'm just resting.

So I played some things

Trying not to seemed too concerned with you

Since you didn't seem too concerned with me

And I thought I'd play a couple songs and then you'd go away, but you stayed so long that eventually I stopped performing for your benefit and started back at what I'd been doing before you came

While I did that, you called someone and argued a little

I don't remember what exactly you were saying

But you were telling him where you were and that you hoped he'd be there soon.

Then you just listened for awhile

Then after that, there were a lot of things said that I don't quite remember. You told me I was really good, started telling me about how your cousin has a recording studio and it's free. You should take my number, you kept saying, in case you ever want to use it.

You said you used it sometimes to sing.

oh, i love to sing you said. And, like I've never seen a person do you

Just

Started

Singing

You lifted your arms like angel wings and started belting out the lines in this full, raspy thread of melody

What song is that? I asked

No one by Alica Keyes you said and asked if I could play it

i tried

I couldn't

I'm not a magician I was thinking to myself. Plus, I can't play C#.

So you went back to listening

Called your man again

I'm over at the school, you know? You'll see me. I'm over here with this girl, she's playing the guitar. Yeah, she good. Okay, my phone's gonna run outta battery soon. Bye.

And then, I don't remember when, but you started telling me how you two were together and then you broke up because you punched him at a party when you were drunk but now you took him back and he'd better not fuck up again cause you're ready to dump his ass. 

I didn't really know what to say about that so I just sort of nodded. 

You asked what school I went to 

And I told you

And you asked if I knew your kids who are nineteen and twenty-two, so no, I don't

But I pretended like I might have. 

Anyway, we were playing and talking when a low black sedan rolled up and stopped

And your face lit up

That's him

You said something to him about me, I don't really remember what

I was just sort of bewildered by the whole thing

But then you came over and hugged me

And you smelled like smoke and a really sharp kind of flower

You offered me a ride home but,

What would my parents say if I hopped out of a black car driven by strangers? 

I said no, but thanks, and you said take care, now. Keep practicing!

It was only after you'd driven away that I realized I should have been more grateful for your company

Because it is perfectly plausible that

nothing like that will ever happen to me again. 

                          From a girl who did not take your number,

                                             -Never

(P.S: If you ever read this, I learned to play No One and I think of you every time)