"If Tom had learned anything... it was that you can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence, that's all anything ever is, nothing more than coincidence... Tom had finally learned, there are no miracles. There's no such thing as fate, nothing is meant to be. He knew, he was sure of it now."It made me think of November 2009, when and how I met Robert. It's funny and pretty strange, something that would have never happened between me and anyone else the way it happened with us.
We were both in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a mariachi convention type thing with our schools and many other schools from all over the Southern United States. During the morning, we would divide into separate classes based on what instrument we played and the skill level we were at. In each classroom, one of the members of Mariachi Cobre would go over the songs given to us in our song books and teach us new techniques for playing. After morning rehearsal and lunch was over, everyone would gather in this large room to practice the songs we would play in front of everyone. But before we could even begin, we would have to divide ourselves into our sections. Starting from the left, as if you were looking from on-stage, there stood the armonia section; which consists of the guitar, guitarra de golpe, vihuela, guitarrón, and harp in that order, then there were the trumpets and violins. Since I played vihuela and Robert played guitarrón, we happened to not be far from each other and that's when the magic happened.
I saw him looking at me just as he saw me looking at him; I would smile and he would give me his signature grin. The next day, we repeated the act of noticing each other but this time was a little different, the people from my group had to leave early because we had to go get dressed for the evening's festivities. I decided to write him a note that said, "Sorry I don't know your name..." and I don't remember the rest except that I had written my myspace url in it. "www.myspace.com/lovesawierdo" (Which doesn't exist anymore.)
We were supposed to talk that night, but I think he was too nervous because I was all dressed up and he wasn't. I remember seeing him though and eagerly waiting for him to approach me. He didn't, but somehow I ended up with his phone number... I don't recall how anymore, but at the time my phone was being stupid and I couldn't save his number. I asked Maddie, one of the violin players from my school, to save his number in her phone for me until we could get back to our hotel.
When we arrived, I quickly gathered my things and asked Maddie for his number. Once I had it on a little La Quinta sticky note, I borrowed Luz's, one of our guitar players, cell phone to text to him. I don't remember what we talked about at all, but I remember the next day as though it were yesterday...
We were all outside, some people gathering in large groups to play random mariachi songs, others getting food and relaxing, but as for me, I was finding Robert. I asked Mr.Perales, my mariachi instructor, if I could go over to a different spot than everyone else and he agreed. I found Robert and we went to a bench and I rambled on about a lot of nothing for quite a while. He mostly stayed quiet and nodded his head or gave a short response, but I remember clearly when he stated that he hated Death Cab for Cutie. (Which, I might add, he actually loves. He was just in denial at the time.) That night was the long awaited performance by Pepe Aguilar and the last time I would see Robert for a long time. He came and found me with the people from my school and sat with me, we talked a little bit and watched the show while my friends cock-blocked...
At the end of the concert he walked with me until it was time for us to leave, we hugged, and went our separate ways. I don't think I could explain to you what I was feeling, but I can feel it now even as I type this.
Next thing you know, I get back home and text Robert as much as I can. I was so interested in everything he said and every joke he made was just that much funnier. Eventually we started writing each other letters and he was in every one of my thoughts, but I have failed to mention that there was Joey, my boyfriend at the time.
I don't remember exactly when it was, but Joey gave me an ultimatum: it was Robert or him. It was awful but of course, I chose Joey; the guy who I had been in love with for so long and was just now getting serious with. I wrote a pathetic awful letter to Robert and we stopped talking. I'm sure he hated me for a good while, and I could understand that. I practically threw him away, even after Joey had sex with his ex-girlfriend while we were dating. But Robert never left my thoughts, he was everywhere to me.
I remember walking around the school and picking dandelion puffs from the grass and wishing that he thought of me, wishing that he didn't hate me like I knew he did, wishing that someday things would be better. Then the last week of my junior year, Nick, an old friend of mine who happens to look just like Robert and I hadn't talked to in AGES, said "hi" to me. I freaked out. Bad. I knew right then that I needed to talk to Robert. I NEEDED to say something, even if he didn't respond. I didn't know how to go about contacting him because I no longer had his number in my cell phone. I contemplated asking for his number through his friends that had talked to me before, I thought of so many plans after that... but I ended up finding that little La Quinta sticky note and sending a text to the ten numbers that were Robert.
We started talking again but things didn't start off so well. He thought that I had only started texting him because I was bored but in all actuality, I missed him a lot. Things got better in time so now we can fast forward to the present: December 1st, 2011.
How funny, a Death Cab song just came up on my iPhone.(x
