Puzzled

Maybe we know each other too well.

I was struck with this realization today. It's so fun to uncover pieces of people's lives, new facts and faces. I love listening to stories, but maybe now we know each other's all too well. Walking down the halls, I could point out who that person is and how many siblings they have and what they are good at and how well I really know them in the end. Maybe not that well. Maybe I don't really know them at all. But maybe the fact I have an idea is enough. Actually maybe it's more than enough; it's too much.

I have been showing around a new student for the last month. She moved, coming to a new high school her senior year. Being new is hard enough, but I feel like being new senior year of high school may be the worst of all. At the lunch table, she said she had the option to go back to her old school after winter break. Her situation is complicated and messy and it's not my place to expose it online. But even though she missed her friends and even though they missed her too, she doesn't think that she really wants to move back. 

At first, I couldn't really understand it. Not wanting to return to what was comfortable--normalcy. What's not to like? There are a lot of things not to like, I realized. Having to explain yourself is one thing, but she has already met so many new people. She has a boyfriend here already--after only being here for a month (good thing I can't say the same after four years)! She rotates lunch tables. She is whoever she wants to be. 

I forgot the excitement that lies in talking to someone unfamiliar, trying to put the pieces together until they begin to create a clear picture. Maybe breaking the comfort of normalcy is just what we need.