The Human Spirit.

Why was the boy so different. What made him so special.

.....

I had been asking myself this for a while now.

He looked normal.

In fact, if he sat in a crowd of people, and he was trying hard not to be noticed (which he usually was), you would not notice him.

He was sitting by himself when I first saw him. Which in itself was odd, I thought. I somehow expected to find him surrounded by a crowd of cronies, sycophantically applauding his every move.

And again, he looked quite...normal. He was staring at the performance on stage with a rather faraway expression on his face.

I gave him a closer look.

No, there was definitely no "air of greatness" that was radiating off him; no "superhuman levels of intelligence".

In fact the only thing that I could pick up was..well...a sense of...solitude-of wanting to be left alone.

Strange,very strange.

Mike called for me then, so i went; and the strange boy slipped to the back of my mind.

......

A few days later I chanced on him again. Again...he was alone. And again there was that same air about him.

I remember wondering if he had any friends at all.
I did not speak to him.

This happened thrice.
....
Don't you ever talk to anyone, I asked him, finally.
He seemed surprised.
Nope, he said. I'm anti-social.
Yeah right. Dude, you're the President of the college. You campaigned, you won. You have a thousand friends on Facebook (Oh alright, I admit it-I was curious). You have a million fans all over the place. You can't be anti-social.

He turned to face me then.

You see me talking to anyone over the past few days you've been watching me, miss?
Hey! (I was stung). I wasn't watching you!
He grinned.

Ok, if you say so.

I decided that this would be a good time for me to leave.
I left.
.....
Alright, I believe you-you are anti-social.
I hadn't seen him talk to anyone the next day either.
Yes, I am. He didn't seem quite so happy today though.
Care to talk 'bout it, I asked.
No. Curt.
Rude bum.
Alright, fine-suit yourself.
I turned away.
His face clouded.
Look, I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind right about now.
Care to talk about it, I asked again.
He looked at me, strangely.
Let's get a coffee, he said finally.
....
We went to Hot Breads.
He didn't choose CCD.
Don't like crowds, he muttered when I looked at him quizzically.

This from a boy who routinely addresses two thousand odd people.
Stranger and Stranger.

He walked straight in, without a sidewards glance at anyone else. The waiter recognized him. He came here often apparently.
He ordered an espresso. I ordered a chocolate muffin.

...
By now I was starting to get comfortable. I smiled.
He, by contrast, looked like he was sitting across the Grim Reaper.
Um...so, i said.
Ah, he said.
Look, I'm not really used to doing this. I don't usually take people out. I don't drink coffee with people. You'll have to excuse me if this whole thing turns out to be a disaster.
He blurted this out at top speed.

So definitely not a player then.

He genuinely looked distressed.
Hey, relax. I won't eat you. And I can talk for both of us;don't you worry. I will not blame you if this turns out to be a disaster.

I smiled again, just to enforce the point.
He looked marginally relieved.

Relax, I said.

What shall we start with?
I have a list of conversation topics, he mumbled.
I laughed so hard, i nearly spilt his coffee.
We spoke for three hours.
.....

Here are the thoughts I wrote down in my diary that night.

"....he is arrogant. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. He is incredibly arrogant. And still....he is quite humble as well. There seems to be a curious mix here. He is at once, both unemotional and quite passionate. He speaks quite plainly of death, and destruction. He was also incredibly fascinated with a baby that was in the next table.
He is at once, both a gentleman and a rogue. He opened and held every door I walked through. He also spoke so shamefacedly about how he was once almost defeated in a debate by a woman (no less), that I almost throttled him.
He is an accomplished liar. And incredibly honest. He can lie so easily, and so convincingly that you find yourself wanting to believe him.
He is plain. He is complicated. He is kind, he is brutal.
What is beautiful, and here I finally realized why people are drawn to him, is his...intensity.
There is no other word for it.
As I write this, I imagine him to be a rock-steady, solid yet plain and unremarkable.
But beneath that rock- there a fierce and riveting beauty. A force that he seems in control of, most of the time
It manifests itself when he makes speeches, when he acts, when he argues, when he makes music, when he looks at you
...and grins"

When I look at him now, stretched out on the sofa, asleep- I am both incredibly proud, and incredibly amazed.

The human spirit has not died.
It is just harder to find, these days.