Wait for it.

I'm in this waiting room. Itching for it to be my turn. I hope nobody talks to me. Instead I observe. There's a pregnant woman sitting beside me. She looks dejected. Like something terrible has happened. Across from me is a man. He looks like he's around his early thirties. And sitting next to him is a little girl. She could be his daughter or niece. The little girl looks full of joy. I hope she's having a nice day. I look down at my phone to check the time. It hasn't even been ten minutes, yet this wait feels like an eternity. I take out my earphones, plug them into my phone, and play some music. I like to stick to themes, so I'll play "Wait for it." from Hamilton. I'm so temped to just get up and leave. It feels like I've been waiting for hours. I can feel my anxiety rise. I feel like I'm bothering everybody with my presence. I can feel the silence in the room, even with the music in my ears. I feel my phone vibrate. I hate checking it so much. Do I look awkward? Should I try to sit a bit more properly? What if somebody looks at me dirty? Thoughts start to swarm in my head. I take a deep breath. Make that two- wait, no. Make that five. More people start to enter the waiting room. I feel like I should give my seat to somebody. But nobody is standing. I would close my eyes but then I would look like a limp rag doll. Suddenly a woman enters the waiting room, she looks rushed. “I am sorry everybody but waiting time must be extended by thirty minutes to an hour. I am so sorry for the inconvenience.” She didn’t sound very sorry. Two thirds of the room started to complain. The rest just looked disappointed. I don’t care. I don’t mind waiting. But it would be great if I could get out of here. I feel trapped, with all these people surrounding me. But I should stay calm. I look up at the analog clock in the waiting room. The clock is in the middle of two paintings. Neither of the objects line up. It’s rather discomforting. I feel the sudden urge to walk over to it and fix it. The pregnant woman turns to me with a half-smile. “I like your hair; did you dye it yourself?” She sounds slightly drained. Oh no. Socializing. My least favorite thing on earth. I take out my earphones and reply with “Oh, thank you. Yes, I dyed it myself.” I can feel sweat falling from my forehead. The woman smiles at me “Wow. I thought you had somebody do your hair for a second! I wish I knew how to paint my hair like that.” I smile at her. Okay...That wasn’t too bad. I see the little girl tug the older man’s arm. She whispers loud enough for me to hear. “Daddy! When I'm all grown up, I want to paint my hairs like that person! It looks so cool!” The father flashes a smile at his daughter. “Someday, when your all grown up!” These people don’t seem too bad. Even though socializing isn’t really my thing, I can probably survive the next few minutes. I attempt to make small talk. I start to open my mouth but then the woman sitting next to me got a phone call. I wonder if it’s from her family or spouse? I can’t understand most of what she’s saying on the phone, because she’s speaking an entirely different language. It sounds like Spanish or Italian. I understood very little. I don’t really pay attention in my Spanish classes in high school. It’s hard for me to distinguish what she is saying. She finally gets off the phone, but I'm a bit discouraged to say anything. Nobody wants to hear what I have to say anyways. Somebody enters the room. He looks very handsome. Very much my type. He sits next to me. I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turn to see what it is. I turn to him. “Excuse me, how long have you been waiting?” He asks me. I feel my cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “O-oh. Not too long. But they did extend the waiting time.” I reply. “Oh, really? That’s not too good. I have somewhere to be...” He says with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Me, being a nosy person, asks him “Oh? And where’s that?” I feel like I shouldn’t have done that. But he doesn’t seem bothered. “Just my graduation ceremony. I’m just going for like, an hour. ‘Cos of covid.” Oh. He’s in high school too? I’m guessing we’re only a couple months apart. “Oh, well I wish you luck.” I smile at him. The little girl across from me start making a heart with her hand. And she starts to taunt me. He sees it too. He looks at me flustered. “U-uh. This is weird. But can I have your number? Just to like, talk...and like, call and normal ‘friend’ people stuff.” I accept his request. We exchange numbers. He gives a relished look. We chat for a couple of more minutes. Everybody in the room glanced at us like we had some chemistry. Pfft what? No. Were just acquaintances. The woman on my other side whispers “You two look cute together.” I felt my face redden.  I don’t know where everybody is getting this from! “Oh right, what’s your nam-” but before he could finish his sentence, a doctor walks into the room. He calls my name. “Oh shoot, I have to go. But it was nice meeting you.” I wave “goodbye” and follow the doctor. “I’m so sorry you had to wait so long, was it boring? I bet it was pretty boring.” I reply to him with “I mean, yeah the wait was a bit long but …” I start to think about everybody in that waiting room. How kind and friendly everybody was. And I don’t usually like to talk to people. But It was nice stepping out of my comfort zone for once. It felt nice. And i meet very interesting people. I felt myself zoning out while thinking about everybody. Until I hear the doctor lead me on “But...?” I snapped out of it. “But I had a good time!”