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by 
sometimes the internet gives you these lil moments you don't really think about until years later, when you look back and go wait... that was actually so weird. the kinda thing that feels almost unreal because it lined up in a way you'd never expect. it's honestly one of the weirdest things that's ever happened to me. this is one of those stories. it happened in the 2000s, back when i lived on sonic forums and fansites, and it's still one of the strangest coincidences i've ever experienced. i shared this on discord and twitter last year, and i wanted to give it a home here too.
back in the 2000s i was deep in the sonic fandom, hanging out on forums, fansites, and communities.
one day, i decided to make my own sonic fansite. just for fun. BlueBlurZone.
once it was up, i posted about it on one of the biggest sonic forums at the time, saying i was also looking for a moderator.
a user named something like RougeCuddles114 replied, saying they'd love to help.
i messaged back, said cool, and asked if they had any instant messaging app so we could chat.
they gave me their aim username. we started talking. that's when i found out they were a girl.
we kept chatting regularly. the site was going well. she was a great mod.
fast forward a few months later. i'm at school, heading to the computer room during lunch.
a group of students walks in behind me, two girls and a guy. they sit at the computer directly behind mine.
we're back to back. maybe 10 feet apart.
about 10 minutes in, i log into my sonic site to check on things.
the guy behind me catches a glimpse of my screen. he walks over to confirm what he's seeing.
he freezes for a second, surprised, then rushes back to the girls to tell them.
then i hear one of the girls, the one who was my mod, have her friend ask her, clearly trying to get my attention, "hey, do you know about BlueBlurZone?"
she replies, "yeah! i'm a moderator on there!"
they notice i haven't turned around. so the friend asks again, louder this time.
still, i didn't react. i didn't know what to do.
the guy walks back over to peek at my screen again. he asks, "hey, how do you know about BlueBlurZone?"
before i could reply, he sees the word "admin" next to my username. he rushes back to the girls and whispers, "she's the admin of the site!"
it fell silent. and it was awkward.
now just imagine how many things had to align for that moment to happen.
that girl could've been from anywhere. that fansite was massive. it had users from all over the world.
not only were we in the same country. she lived in my city.
not just my city. she lived nearby, and went to my school.
not just my school, she showed up that day. she could've taken it off.
she didn't just come to school, she decided to head to the computer room that lunch break. same as me, same time.
she didn't just walk into the same room, she sat directly behind me.
she didn't just sit behind me, there were so many other empty seats.
her friend didn't just glance at my screen, he happened to look over at the exact moment i logged in.
she didn't just casually mention it, she said she was a mod, right as i was logged in.
i didn't just happen to be online, i was logged in as admin, with the badge visible.
out of anyone who could've replied to my post, i chose her, unknowingly selecting someone i'd later meet in real life.
if even one of those things hadn't happened, if i'd skipped lunch, if she'd sat two seats over, if i hadn't gone on my site, if her friend hadn't looked, we never would've known we crossed paths with each other.
it's one of those moments that feels too perfectly timed to be real.
i didn't think much about it back then. it was only around 2015 that i had a "holy crap..." realization about it, because that's when a lot of other weird things started happening in my life which made me look back at my school days.
even now, when i think back on it, i just smile. like seriously... what were the chances?
That's such a crazy coincidence and to be sitting right next to each other is wild. What's interesting is that you weren't already friends beforehand, it makes it even more uncanny.
I wonder how close we come to moments like those that never eventuate. Where we were only one moment away from a surreal connection.
The closest I've had is meeting a guy at a high school party, becoming friends, and years later finding out that we're both in a primary school photo together. I had gone to that school in the early grades but moved a few suburbs over early on. There was a dress up day before then where you had to dress up as a letter of the alphabet (I was a cool Dinosaur) and we were both in the same group photo, just a row apart.
It's magnitudes less than your example, but something I find funny to look back on. We're still good mates to this day. I wonder if we'd be even better friends if we met back then or perhaps not have gotten along and not been friends at all.
The world works in mysterious ways.
this is the kind of internet story that makes you sit there like nahhh there's no way. the fact that you were both just casually online friends without knowing you were literally at the same school is so freaking weird. all those tiny coincidences lining up at once is crazy
Omg that's such a wild story, Hailey. I swear these kinda things only happened in the old internet days. The fact that she ended up sitting directly behind you while you were logged into your own site is actually crazy.
what gets me isn't even that she went to your school. it's how many tiny things had to line up for either of you to realize it. if she'd sat at a different computer, if you weren't logged into the site, if her friend never glanced at the screen, the moment would've just passed and neither of you would've ever known. it's one of those coincidences that you always think about and wonder how the hell did that even happen.