1. The Exposure

You're home for a long weekend from school and are feeling safe. It's been calm and quiet and it feels good to be fed home cooked meals and to be showering in complete privacy. You decide that it’s time to take a trip to your local mall. While walking around you are immersed in all sorts of people; families with strollers, teenagers on awkward first dates, and mom’s going on brisk walks. In the midst of all this, you are putting yourself out there in your home town open for any re-connections and reunions – yikes.

2. The Recognition

And then, it starts to happen. Your eyes that were scanning the horizon lock on to another persons eyes with a hint of familiarity emitting from this interaction. Your mind runs through the roll call; this is a face you knew for at least four years and it was a face that you were relieved to graduate from and leave a past behind with. You can see the wheels turning in their head too; this is an old fellow classmate from high school. It is time to abort this calm mission to the mall.

3. The Reflection

Upon seeing this person in the distance and ultimately walking towards them, your mind starts to move through the frames. You think where you last saw them, how different they look, and lastly, oh god, how YOU look. You're better than this. You didn't go away for four years to have it come down to your see through leggings, comfy sweater and greasy hair moment in a local mall. This is where it's time to turn around or speed walk. Nope, both too obvious.

4. The Interaction

This is it, it's happening. It can turn out so many ways, an awkward smirk and half wave, a complete and blatant ignore even though you both are very aware of one another at this point (ignoring does NOT help), or the worst of all; a pause for conversation. If you two are able for this option then it's clear that you are mutuals on Instagram, perhaps even Twitter, so you know all the information that is worth sharing. This conversation begins and ends as pulling teeth, but hey it can't last too long.

5. The Recovery

You did what you could. And when it comes down to it, little moments like this and your past still doesn't define who you are. Seeing people from high school is never fun but you can use the rush of emotions you get from it and channel it into something more positive, like being thankful for college friends, who you are now, and where you're going in life.