So long, Chepstow 🩵

Every time I listen to a certain song, it makes me think of a very special person I liked a lot when doing my first year of A-Levels.

She was a Pisces, just like me, but she was February and I’m March. She would be 21 now.

She used to like Studio Ghibli, Murder on the orient express, Good Omens and that one show where they took the “Now shake!” way too literally (I can’t remember what it’s called, unfortunately.).

We both shared an interest in the Osemanverse, which is how we came to be friends in the first place. During the second day of induction, she was sat nearby and reached out to me. I remembered her as the girl with a cat called Toffee. By the end of the first term, we had exchanged numbers and were lending books. I once gave her Radio Silence (an absolute classic), and then she would let me read some of her Heartstopper comics.

We used to talk in the Sixth form’s secret stairs, though to be completely honest, it was me doing the talking 75% of the time. I felt bad because I thought I was being self-centred and inconsiderate, but she would smile and tell me it was okay because she liked to listen.

I remember she told me about a time where she used to attend school in South Africa. It was something like a boarding school, where some people would be in dorms, but not everyone. I don’t think she was. She told me about how it used to be somewhat strict, and how hair was expected to be a certain length. Once upon a time, she used to have this long hair. But then she started to wear it short, and I thought that it was a small, but beautiful symbol of rebellion. I thought she was so cool for it.

I remember the first lunchtime that we hung out, she sat down and promptly pulled out this massive carrot from her bag. And my sixteen year old self thought it was the funniest thing ever. I still smile to myself thinking about it now.

Gosh, I feel a bit embarrassed about how I used to act around her. Honestly, there was a lot of nervous laughter and struggling with what to talk about. I hope I didn’t scare her off or come across as too obsessive, because that would be really sad. When I was with her, there were times when I didn’t even want to go back to lesson, and sometimes I found myself dreading when the school term would end because that would mean I probably wouldn’t see her for a while (she used to take two buses back home and my mum was strict).

But anyway, it would turn out I would never see her again, because she never came back for second year. And then I spent the whole year without friends, studied for my exams, and got into uni. Now I’m studying to become a counselling psychologist.

But I will remember our little talks. I will miss exchanging memes with you and the excited texts you used to send when the trailers and release dates for the next season of Heartstopper came out on Netflix. Little things like that really got me through some of my most depressing months.

So long, Chepstow. I hope you are safe and okay somewhere in the world. And I hope, rather selfishly, that you’re thinking about me too. Maybe one day, fate will bring us together again.