The Boy I Never Spoke With, London – 42

A Story I Wrote - number 4 of 4.

THE BOY I NEVER SPOKE WITH

Non fiction / a true story.

Twenty Years After I Finished My British School

(in West London, England, aged 18, in August 2001).

Anyway, I cannot remember ever talking with this boy, so it is most likely that I did not.

At the moment in 2021, his age must be about 34 - as mine is 38. Similar to him, I am a white male. Originally from Russia, I arrived in London as a thirteen year old.

It seems that the last occasion ever when I saw the boy, was in September 2001. By then, my period at the British school (1997 - 2001) was already over, as was my school era in general (1990 - 2001). Apparently, that day he had been walking home from school, as he usually must have done. He did not seem to have seen me though. And almost definitely, I did not try to make my presence known to him.
In all likelihood, the boy's name is Adam. This is because, while a student there, as I was once leaving the nearby area, to go home after school, so were this boy and some other boys, who appeared to be his fellow class pupils. As they were separating, to walk in the opposite directions, one of those boys said to that particular boy : ' Later on, Adam. ' .

He and his classmates could have arrived at my school around September 1998, most probably studying in Year 7. Therefore he should have been roughly eleven years of age. I was fifteen then - in Year 11, and it was one year after I joined that school.

Those days, Adam and the boys, his fellow students, looked small, tiny ! At their young age. Adam had somewhat dark hair, and it was curly. However it was not ALWAYS curly, so in his early days at the school, his hair may actually have been straight. As months or years went by, Adam and the dudes seemed to have grown to an extent. They were not of such a miniature size any more.

In my present perception, Adam was, in a way, what can be regarded as a classical and boyish boy. While having a masculine and energetic side of behavior, he was not really 'macho'. Occasionally he could even be funny. I remember seeing him one day sweep the floor with a brush, or maybe pretend to do so, inside the school building. He must have been in a jokey, cheeky or excited mood. His friends or other pupils may have been nearby, watching his actions. But I also remember observing Adam at serious moments. For example, when him and me were in the school library, and he was sitting on the floor - alone, reading a book. Unbeknown to him, I saw that. It has just occurred to me that the book he was looking through, may have been about military history, or possibly something similar.

Those random episodes are some illustrations that allow me to judge what this boy was like. But I just do not know much about him, as I had not been around him a lot. And I was not a friend of his. Or WAS I ?.. I did not even communicate with him. Or did I ?.. These questions have the potential to be interpreted and answered deeply, philosophically, and in various senses.

An unforgettable moment with Adam, which is special to me indeed, and which is still with me, was when I attended the Sixth Form, probably Year 13. I did the A Levels in my later stages at the school. One morning or afternoon we had a whole school assembly. Basically, a regular meeting that they held.

In the assembly hall, with a stage, we - the Sixth Formers - routinely sat during the assemblies in an elevated platform, which resembles the interior of a theatre. It was significantly above the main floor of the venue. From there, we would watch those speaking at the stage, and you could also see the area below. The young pupils (who could be in the Years 7, 8 and 9) were placed on the LEFT in the main part of the hall, judging from the position of the platform.

That particular assembly was underway. One or more members of the staff probably stood at the stage, addressing the school. I was in the platform, among the other students of the Sixth Form. During the event, for some reason, I must have looked or glanced DOWN - and to the LEFT, where the pupils sat. One of them apparently looked UP - and to the RIGHT, in the direction of the Sixth Form. Or maybe he had ALREADY been looking. Whether this was in response, a reaction to ME looking - that I really do not know. But at some stage, it became obvious that the younger boy's gaze had met mine, and vice versa. It was Adam.

It is not likely that we locked our eyes at each other for long, but it did last for a given moment, if not more. Like I implied earlier, Adam may have actually looked towards the platform first. Before I looked where the young students were sitting. But what made him do that, and what got him interested ? I am curious. Maybe he had recognized me from before. After all, at that minute, rather than observing whoever could have been speaking at the stage, Adam had to look UP. As that was the position of the 16 - 18 year old students, including myself.

Nowadays it still seems to me that it was I who that boy had been gazing at, in the course of this interesting exchange. The distance between us was not so long as to be unable to roughly determine that.

Most likely, it was after the encounter I have just described, and possibly soon, that Adam and me found one another at the same location again. Where he must have seen me indeed ! Because he seemed to have a quick look in my direction, and therefore he knew that I was there. It took place outside of the school, a bit far away actually. In the street. I may have been sitting on a bench.

As he stood on the pavement, or walked about, Adam looked happy. And he was possibly smiling. I suppose that it could be a result of his realization that I was nearby. In which case I must have been familiar to him ! But maybe it was only a coincidence ... Another boy - or girls - were also around, while Adam could have been chatting to them. At one stage he asked them, or someone, a question. As part of all of that, I saw Adam emerge from a shop. In fact he may have recently come out of there. In his hands he carried two plastic bottles of drinks that he must have purchased inside. One drink was of the RED colour, another drink was BLUE. The reason for his choice of beverages is hardly mysterious !

Is that not typical of a young dude ? It should be !

I cannot say what happened next. Maybe Adam went away, in the direction where he was living, or possibly he returned to the school. Or I left the location.

That was the school journey for me ... It started at my first school in Moscow, Russia. As a young boy and a Soviet pupil, I wore a badge with Lenin's image on my uniform. Then there were schools in between ... It ended on the completion of the British school in 2001. Still living in London, these days I tend to go near that old school of mine, also visiting the neighbouring areas. Although not too often.

I have never entered the building of this school since September 2002, my age having been nineteen at that moment.

Was there something like a CONNECTION between Adam and me ? Whatever this could mean. One might say : ' Yes ' . Chances are, that after my departure from the school, he stayed a student there for a further few years, given his age.

In all probability, I will never see this boy again in my life. Especially if I permanently move away from the United Kingdom, which can realistically happen in the near future. He is an adult. Who may have a family and children of his own, and those kids could, in turn, be going to school.

But the experience that I have had with Adam, was a bright, nice, romantic and touching feature of my youth - and it will stay with me for years to come.

By / the author and writer of the title and of the text: me (Vladimir).

The editor: me (Vladimir).

The title: written in September 2021 in London, the United Kingdom.

The text: written and edited in September 2021 in London, the United Kingdom; edited in September 2022 in London, the United Kingdom; edited in August 2024 and in September 2024 in South Killingholme, the United Kingdom.

About the author (me): I am Vladimir, a white male of the Russian nationality, born in May 1983 in Moscow, Russia, the USSR (the Soviet Union). I had been living in London, the United Kingdom from November 1996 to February 2023. I have been based in England again, since October 2023, after spending 8 months away from the UK. I was engaged in writing at various stages of my life, mostly in the Russian and English languages, and I did creative writing as a child, an adolescent and an adult. I also produced my own handwritten home newspapers and magazines in my childhood and in my teenage years.

The featured photo: my kindergarten in Moscow, the Russian Federation, which I attended as a child in about 1989 - 1990.

The photo taken by: me (Vladimir) in May or June 2018.