I met Kendall within a week of moving to Glen Ellyn. I almost met him six months earlier as I dawdled in a parking lot waiting for something important, though I knew not what.
He was one of those friends of a friend and I met him when Ellis invited me to catch a movie with him and a bunch of friends. Ellis and I had spent the afternoon hanging out in the house and I stepped out to go for a short walk before we left. When I opened the front door and stepped onto the porch Kendall was standing with a group of guys talking. I already knew everybody else and before I headed for my walk around the block someone briefly introduced Kendall and I. Then, I hopped down the steps and Kendall resumed talking to his friends.
When we circled up to go to the movie I caught a ride with someone while Kendall drove his own car. Throughout the night Kendall and I had punctuated interactions. We never really had a conversation that evening but our peripheral exposure to the other didn’t leave us wanting …