You can’t assume two people that walk right by each other are strangers.

It’s the beginning of summer and a spring breeze still lingers in the air. She’s walking toward the subway station with her mp3 plugged in. From a distance she sees a figure that she instinctively recognizes. Maybe it’s the way he walks, or maybe his stature, or maybe just simply his presence. She can feel her heart skipping a beat, and her breathing picks up. He’s walking in her direction.

Memories begin to play in her head like a motion picture. She remembers the first time they met, and how he introduced himself to her as her new lab partner for the next three weeks. She remembers the first time he sent a spark running up and down her spine. She remembers how she got to know his smile, the sound of his laugh and how she came to like the way he called her name. And then she remembers how good he was at making her smile.

She remembers the first time she realized that it was love. And that she had never before loved anyone the way she loved him. And maybe this love was something she’d keep with her forever.

These sweet memories come to her first, but they weren’t the last. She remembers that day vividly. That day he showed her the ring. That day he told her about her. She remembers the initial shock, the smile she fought to plaster onto her face, and then breaking down the moment she turned her back to walk away. She remembers her world stopping for the next month. She remembers heart break.

Then she remembers how they slowly slip apart. A choice she didn’t make. His eyes no longer meet hers, and his friendly greetings disappear. He distances himself away from her, and this time she feels frustrated and disappointed in him. She remembers that the last goodbye wasn’t vocalized.

As the film of their past memories is about to come to a close, she is only about a metre away from him. She looks up. And just for a moment, their eyes meet in acknowledgement of each other. And then the moment passes, and they return to being strangers. They walk by each other and continue on.

It’s how they started. And how they end up. As strangers.
But it’s not a perfect cycle. Because they’re not the same strangers as before.