Author's Note: Please excuse the title of this article as it's not the politest of terms, but it was the workings of a 9 year olds mind and it's fully necessary to the story I present to you. And although the article is long, I encourage you to read the entire thing as all parts of it are of equal importance to me.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl in grade four named Kelsey. Alright, that little girl was me. And this is the story of an event that has shaped me into who I am today. Let's begin here.
One day, little Kelsey was busy rehearsing her dance routine during recess so she would be fully prepared for her audition into the talent show on Friday. She was halfway through the dance when all of a sudden, this blond haired, silly toque wearing, brace faced grade seven boy jumped right in and started dancing too! Little Kelsey was furious. Just who did this boy think he was just disrupting a performance like that?
"You're doing it wrong, I've got some way better dance moves that ya godda do! Check this one out, I call it The Flamingo. See? It goes like this... fla-min...GO! Flaaaaa min GOOOOOOOOO oohh ohh yeah FLAMAAAAAAANGO MAAAANGO FLAMANGO!"
Little Kelsey was not amused.
"Oh. You don't like that one? It's okay, I've got another move that you'l like sososooo much better, wait for it..."
How many pudding cups did this kid have during recess? There was clearly way too much sugar pulsing through his system.
"This one's the Macarena! I thought it up all by myself. This is how ya do it. Okay watch me first, then try it with me. Da da da da da da da da da da daaaaa ehh Macarena! Okay, got it? Together now! Da da da d-"
That was it. Little Kelsey had had enough, this crazy boy was cutting into her precious recess time. Why, he was... he was...
"PSYCHO! You're PSYCHO!" Little Kelsey exclaimed.
And that was how it all began. From that day on the nickname Psycho stuck, as did the tormenting of little Kelsey every lunch and recess for the remainder of her grade four year. No matter where she tried to hide out during these periods of time, Psycho would find her and force his foolish antics upon her. If she was in the field quietly reading, he'd sit down across from her and start singing. If she was sitting on the bus, he'd sit in the seat behind her and poke the back of her head for the entire bus ride. And he was always, ALWAYS trying to show her new dance moves.
Although Psycho's behaviour infuriated little Kelsey to no end, she had to give him credit. He was never mean. He was just a little... psycho. Doing things mainly for attention, mainly to make her laugh. And maybe, just maybe, she liked it. There was just something about his behaviour, as foolish as it was, that made her smile. Here was this older, cooler boy showing an interest in her. And although she would never admit it, she looked up to him. She was always such a serious kid, maybe it was time to lighten up.
And so the year ended. Psycho went to the high school, and little Kelsey moved onto grade five. Years past with and little Kelsey didn't see Psycho anymore, and she slowly started to forget about him. But what she didn't forget was the smile he put on her face, and how he had turned that serious side of her into a Psycho side. After he had been a part of her life, little Kelsey became just as "psycho" and outgoing as he had been. If she had never met him, she very well may have stayed that quiet, serious girl the rest of her life. He's the one to blame for all her crazy antics that followed in later years.
Grade four was the last time little Kelsey ever saw Psycho.
Except, it wasn't.
Fast forward 11 years later to a different province, a different city, 7 hours away from where everything you just read took place. Fast forward to two days ago, February 3, 2015 where I'm in my second year of college.
I was in the checkout at Safeway and found myself behind this tall, blond haired guy. I didn't pay him much attention at first, I was too busy unloading my groceries. Then he turned to look in my direction and we made eye contact. It was just a brief "accidentally looked at you" kinda thing, but then at the same time we both did a double take and just stared at each other. There was something eerily familiar about this man in front of me. The way his blond floppy hair fell in his face, his beautifully straight teeth... the thought of how he would look wearing a funny toque with pom poms on it....
Oh. My. God.
It clicked.
How did I react? I panicked. I grabbed my groceries and ran to a different checkout line. What was I supposed to do? I haven't seen this guy since I was in grade four and he was in grade seven. Was that even really him? How could it be! The only reason I even remembered his face was because after all his harassment it was burned into my brain. But there was no way he would actually remember me never mind recognize me 11 years later! No. I had to get out of there, I thought I was going insane. I paid for my groceries as quickly as possible and ran out of the store, not looking back. I'd pretend it never happened, I mean I probably imagined it anyways. It couldn't have been him. I thought I'd never find out for sure. I passed up that knowledge, and it's a big city. I wouldn't have a second chance to find out.
Fast forward to today, February 5, 2015. One hour ago. I was crossing a street in a random part of the city, on my way to a shop to pick up some last minute things for a project. It was night time, snowing, I had my hood pulled over my head and my glasses which I rarely wear obscuring my face. It would be hard for anyone to recognize me to the extent I was bundled up. There was a group of guys crossing the street quite a few paces ahead of me. One guys kept looking back over his shoulder, and I thought he was looking at me. We were still in the process of crossing the street, and the guy stopped dead. The rest of his group continued on, not noticing that he had fallen behind. I caught up to where he was standing, but didn't bother to glance at him. If this guy wanted to stop in the middle of a street that was his problem. I for one was going to keep walking before the light changed. And that's what I did. I got two steps past the man when all of a sudden...
"Kelsey?"
Psycho.
-ocean10kv
