When I was about 17/18 I went to a weekly writing group called Juice which was organised by New Writing North. There I met a lad called James who went to the other secondary school in Whitehaven to me. We got along OK but didn't keep in touch after the sessions finished.
I took a year out after my A Levels and went to university aged 19. In my first creative writing class there was a face I recognised but couldn't work out why. I asked the lad if he had gone to St Benedicts school. He said yes and asked if I had. I told him I had gone to Whitehaven but recognised him. As Whitehaven is a small place we thought we probably saw each other wandering about. Later on in the class I had a eureka moment - it was James who had been to the Juice writing sessions. How odd that we both ended up at the same university in the same year (I was in the school year above him), both studying creative writing and both in the same class (there was at least four classes).
We stayed in the same class throughout our three years at university and were fairly friendly but weren't best buddies or anything like that. After graduation we didn't keep in touch.
One evening last year Vince and I were heading to my parents' house for the weekend. I was just sitting there minding my own business when a voice said "Karen Hands!" I turned to look and there was James - it had been over a year since I had last seen him. It turned out that he too was living in Carlisle now and was also heading to Whitehaven to see family.
Another time when I was travelling back from Whitehaven a voice said "We've got to stop meeting like this!" and there was James again! OK so it's not so weird that we meet on the train to or from Whitehaven as we both have family down there.
What was the weirdest thing was what Vince said on Friday as we were walking home together on Friday. He works as a temp in the payroll department at Carlisle Infirmary and he said that they were getting another temp in starting today and his name was James G********. "You're kidding that's my friend James from uni, the one we always bump into on the train!" Vince was equally as shocked as I was.
I meant to text James about this but forgot. It got me thinking - wherever I go he has followed me or am I following him? It really is quite odd. I said to Vince to let me know if it was in fact my friend James. Sure enough it was! He even said in his email 'James says to tell you “bwa-ha-ha, there is no escaping me”'.
So what I want to know is what the fuck is going on?
I took a year out after my A Levels and went to university aged 19. In my first creative writing class there was a face I recognised but couldn't work out why. I asked the lad if he had gone to St Benedicts school. He said yes and asked if I had. I told him I had gone to Whitehaven but recognised him. As Whitehaven is a small place we thought we probably saw each other wandering about. Later on in the class I had a eureka moment - it was James who had been to the Juice writing sessions. How odd that we both ended up at the same university in the same year (I was in the school year above him), both studying creative writing and both in the same class (there was at least four classes).
We stayed in the same class throughout our three years at university and were fairly friendly but weren't best buddies or anything like that. After graduation we didn't keep in touch.
One evening last year Vince and I were heading to my parents' house for the weekend. I was just sitting there minding my own business when a voice said "Karen Hands!" I turned to look and there was James - it had been over a year since I had last seen him. It turned out that he too was living in Carlisle now and was also heading to Whitehaven to see family.
Another time when I was travelling back from Whitehaven a voice said "We've got to stop meeting like this!" and there was James again! OK so it's not so weird that we meet on the train to or from Whitehaven as we both have family down there.
What was the weirdest thing was what Vince said on Friday as we were walking home together on Friday. He works as a temp in the payroll department at Carlisle Infirmary and he said that they were getting another temp in starting today and his name was James G********. "You're kidding that's my friend James from uni, the one we always bump into on the train!" Vince was equally as shocked as I was.
I meant to text James about this but forgot. It got me thinking - wherever I go he has followed me or am I following him? It really is quite odd. I said to Vince to let me know if it was in fact my friend James. Sure enough it was! He even said in his email 'James says to tell you “bwa-ha-ha, there is no escaping me”'.
So what I want to know is what the fuck is going on?
