Nothing Happened

Nothing happened.

I hate this phrase so much.

It’s just so full of hidden meaning, things that aren’t out in the open. Because if you have to clarify that “nothing happened”, it means that someone was expecting something to happen. And there’s so much that actually happens behind a “nothing happened”.

He stares at you, makes you uncomfortable. He leers and you wish you could escape, run from his gaze. He chuckles and you feel uncomfortable. You point him out to someone, and they look over.

“Did he do anything besides stare?”

“No, nothing actually happened.”

You’ve been fighting so much. Tonight was going to be the night that you guys made up, became friends again. You miss her, you guys haven’t talked in ages. But she ignores you, doesn’t look at you. Someone says she doesn’t want to talk to you.

“What happened? Did you guys make up? Are you guys okay now?”

“No. Nothing happened.”

Your parents are fighting all the time. They scream and yell at each other. The house is always full of tension, underlying currents of acid stream through the atmosphere. You tell your friends about how nasty things are at home.

“Does he hit her? Are they getting a divorce?”

“No, nothing really happened. They’re just fighting.”

You like him. You think he likes you. Everyone thinks you two would work great together. Every time you guys hang out there’s so much not being said, so much that is lying just beneath the surface. Every time your eyes meet, it’s charged. Your banter borders on something that’s not “just friends”. People wait with baited breath, waiting for something to happen between the two of you. But you and he grow apart; you stop talking.

“Did anything ever happen between you?”

“No, nothing happened.”

I hate “nothing happened.” Because something always happens.