It somehow seemed weird to me. It would, of course, to anyone else who knew about it.
He spoke to her frequently via Facebook, for months together. Now, there's no problem with that at all, except for the fact that, he didn't even make eye contact in person; rest alone exchanging friendly gestures or talking.
It all started with the beginning of our college life. We all were new to this- college, friends, socializing in real and in reel (online), hanging out and wasting our freedom. Making new friends was obvious; none could stay deserted at this stage. So, it was absolutely normal. Talking to a classmate on a social networking site.
He had pretty good linguistic skills, and that was what fascinated her. He did throw in some obloquies, but that did not bother her. Being a person with appreciation for skills,the fascination for his perfection in language helped her cling on. And they continued chatting away merrily. Sharing views, playing games, discussing American TV shows and songs was all they did.
Contrasting to the chats and frequent exchange of knowledge, he had a dark side to himself, which only showed itself once in a while. But she surprisingly remained oblivious to this.
And they chatted for 8 long months, day and night, leaving a text whenever they got a moment. She shared every detail of this online friendship with me, being a best friend. It always remained a mystery to me that speaking day in and day out with each other and yet remaining anonymous in public. I wondered whether this was considered normal in the online world.
The first year of junior college almost came to an end, and she shut down her Facebook for her own good. Things started becoming clearer to me when, after few months at the beginning of our 12th standard, he added me on Facebook and I accepted. I didn't have a clue about his darker side until then, thanks to my best friend, she never noticed it to tell me about it.
It was he sent the first 'Hi' that we began to chat. And soon began the chatting episode. My best friend had told me nice things about him, literally praises and hence, I had a fairly good image in my mind about him (except for his mysterious attitude). But soon, it started changing with the things he said. I found him to be an extremely alone, lonely-inside type of person who held grudges. The way he thought about himself was in a way too high, which showed itself in his talk. It did once horribly worry me when he said casually that he'd done something really wrong to my friend which she wasn't aware of. He acted smart; and I hated that. It was the odious speech of his which made me quarantine myself from him, slowly.
Once I gave an impromptu speech at college. Back home on Facebook, there was his message.
"Nice words."
Me: "Thank you. ☺"
"Wasn't really good. Haha!"
I didn't reply.
What the hell, I thought. I don't mean to say my speech was the very best, but I was the one who stood up to speak out among a class of 150 nervous students, including him.
There have been many instances when I noticed his negativity and his unhealthy personality. But the thing that puzzles me the most is his attitude when it comes to interacting in person. He did the same with me like he did with my best friend. And to top it all, I've seen him get along with fellow classmates (both boys and girls) in an easy-going way. He's just fine with them.
I don't really want him to approach me and talk after the darker side being obvious. But the queer behaviour trait stops me from remaining nonchalant. We'd also tried asking some classmates and older friends but got no answer. Whatever it was, it would always remain as a HISTORY of AWKWARD MYSTERY in the chapter of College Life in pages of my mind...