MySpace introduces me to MyPast

My coworkers introduced me to the world of MySpace and I've been hooked. Not hooked in that I'm on there posting all the time. But I've been going on there and looking up people from my past and seeing where they are. I found a few college friends, an ex boyfriend and some high school acquaintancesces. I also looked up Gary, whom I had a crush on throughout much of my high school career. He also had a long time girlfriend, but I had no interest in looking her whereabouts. With some people, you just don't care about where they wind up.

So, guess who I ran into while eating my lunch in the park the very next day? Here's a hint: it wasn't Gary.

The girlfriend, I'll call her Keisha, was strolling through the park talking to a few other women. I knew it was her as soon as I heard that loud, raspy voice. I considered saying hello, but I decided against it. She may or may not remember me and if she did, I couldn't remember if we last spoke on good terms. And I get so tired of these random conversations with people from the past, particularly high school. They give you the once over to see if you've gained any weight, then they want to ask you about marriage and kids. Because I'm not married and wasn't looking my best, I looked away and she did the same. She looked good, though. I heard through the grapevine awhile back that she married her other high school flame, a real loser named Jeff. But he wound up getting his act together. They now have about three kids.

I remember practically everything about Keisha. She was the girl everybody pretended to like, but secretly hated her because she "thought she was cute." She did have a massive ego and a flair for the dramatic. I remember the first day she strolled into my 9th grade English class, concerned because the teacher couldn't find her name on the attendance sheet. And when Mrs. C. was finally able to find her information, Keisha grabbed her arm and said, "Oh, God bless you!" I new then that she was going to be a piece of work. And I was right. She was one of those light-complexioned sistas who was confused about her heritage and didn't like to say she was simply black. She traced her ancestry back five generations and liked to tell people she was part Irish, French, Italian, Native American, etc etc etc. She showed up to prom wearing a geisha-themed outfit because she said everyone thought she looked Asian. That statement came as a surprise to the rest of us.

I was disappointed when she started dating Gary, but I kept my feelings to myself. Keisha and I became friends, but I secretly wished that she would fall down the steps and become incapacitated so Gary would realize his true love for me. No matter how many times I hoped, prayed and poked my voodoo doll, this scenario never became true. When they did finally break up in our junior year, it was explosive. They had a loud argument in the hallway, she slapped him and he said something like, "if you hit me again, i'll shoot you." She performed in our school talent show shortly after and sang Ce Ce Peniston's "Keep On Walkin'", which everyone knew was dedicated to Gary.

Tthe demise of their relationship didn't bring Gary any closer to me. He moved onto another chick, a freshman this time, and Keisha hooked up with Jeff, her future husband. I never thought I'd see either one of them again, but I was wrong.
(photo courtesy of http://dts.ystoretools.com/1092/images/250x1000/delgeisgir.gif)