Lily

17

The sun rose and everything fell – at least, that is how Alex felt. The world was moving quickly – spinning at 1,000 miles per hour and traveling around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. Alex just never realized it until he suddenly, after the seventh month of an eight-month-long yoga retreat in Burma that his girlfriend forced him to go on, reached self-awareness. It was in that moment that he suddenly felt dizzy. Now that he felt the Earth moving, he couldn’t un-feel it. This wasn’t the worst part about self-awareness, though. He realized that his whole life was a lie. Before the retreat, he was the Oakland Raiders’ #1 Fan (he had a mug to prove it), but he realized that he only chose to support the Raiders because he loved the gray and black color combo – that “gut feeling” was actually a natural attraction to monochrome (so chic and versatile!).
And, worst of all, he actually liked yoga. Maybe he should have thanked his girlfriend for showing him his true self, but what would his friends think? His best friend Matt only knew how to make homophobic slurs, but he could be funny at times too. He only talked about football, though. How would Alex connect with him, now? It would seem forced if Alex kept on talking about football. Did Matt like anything else other than football? Maybe they could connect over how delicious Chipotle burritos were? Or, maybe Matt could try yoga, too? No, Matt hated yoga, even though he never tried it. They had been friends since high school, and now, an eight-month yoga retreat changed that. Who was he supposed to be friends with now? There was Anthony, whom he met on the yoga retreat. They immediately clicked, but Anthony was from Seattle and Alex was from Miami. How would they do long distance? What if Anthony were a bad texter? What if Alex were a bad texter? Did Anthony even use social media? It was too complicated. Besides, Alex had only talked to Anthony a few times during lunch. What if they started running out of things to talk about?
Alex decided not to do it. He still felt dizzy from the Earth’s rotation, but he was starting to get used to it. At the end of the seventh month, he decided to reconnect with Matt and leave the yoga retreat early. He told his girlfriend that he needed to go to work, since his boss was upset that he had not showed up to work in seven months. His girlfriend called him materialistic. They broke up, and he took a flight to Miami. Suddenly, he liked football again and, as he stepped out of the airport, the Earth seemed to stop spinning. Alex was Alex again. He decided that after he entered his condo, he would call Matt. They would talk about football. Matt would mention how the Raiders lost again and make fun of Alex for going on the yoga retreat with a girl he had only been dating for a month, leaving Matt behind to watch football alone. “Yes, perhaps this is the real me,” Alex thought as he arrived at his condo door. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.