We met on the first day of school, do you remember? We sat together, reading our A's and B's - you, with your mischievous smile and I, with my perennially cropped hair.

We became friends; it was prosaic in its inevitability.

I didn't get you. We now had a love-hate relationship.

We stopped talking. We were indifferent to each other.

We moved on. If I remembered school, it was only to laugh at how utterly innocent and wide-eyed I was.

You emailed me some days ago, speaking about the best days of your life. Learning your A's and B's next to me.

You were somebody I used to know.

***

We were sitting together in companionable silence.

I'd squeezed your hand and said, "I am glad to know you." You smiled that usual heart-stopping smile, squeezed my hand and said, "Ditto, sweetheart."

We were sitting together in comfortable silence. I was idly flipping through the TV channels. You were cutting your nails into the dustbin.

There was silence and the yearning distance.

You were somebody I used to know.

***

I was reading your old blogs. I was tracing my fingers on old photographs and wondering...

I looked into the mirror and whispered,

"You were somebody I used to know"

***

[Inspired by my newest ear-worm, Somebody I used to know, by Gotye - featuring Kimbra. I must have listened to this song on loop 50 times this weekend.]