blast from the past

this is proof that the the time-space continuum exists, and that there are folds in it, and that i have just tripped and snagged myself in one of those folds.

first off, michael jackson dies. and all this time i thought that, with all the crazy stuff he was capable of doing, he could actually live forever. and then he dies. and takes with him the soundtrack of my growing up years.

then i attend a spinning class in the gym. i've never gone to this particular branch before but it had the class i was interested in so i didn't mind trudging all the way there. so i attend the class, which burned more brain cells that fat cells. while doing the post-workout muscle-numbing stretches, a faintly familiar dude crept into my line of sight.

no. it cannot be.
it cannot be the guy i went to the prom with.
the prom that happened 19 years ago.

in a split second, i decided that i do not want to live with the "what if" of whether it was him or not. so, with a grand display of lack of brain cells, i went up to the dude and said, "hi. are you (the boy who i loved in high school and went to the prom with and made my life into a sweet valley twins book and who i haven't thought of in 19 years?)"

he looked at me without the faintest sign of recognition (augh! the heart of the 15-year old me broke) and said, "yes"

ohmyeffinggod it IS him.

and we talked for the first time in 19 years. it felt like there were four people in that conversation -- the 33-year old me, the 34-year old him, the 16-year old me and the 17-year old him.

and right before we parted (because i realized ten minutes into the conversation that i was grotty from a one hour workout and had big straggly hair and was wearing an icky unflattering shirt), he said, "your eyes are still the same." the 16-year old me swooned and the 33-year old me was struck speechless.

and as i walked away, i swear i could hear michael jackson singing "the way you make me feel, you really turn me on, you knock me off my feet, my lonely days are gone." which was one of the songs he and i danced to at the prom.