Just say "Hi" and wave

I realize I haven't posted in a long time. I've been really busy trying to catch up in school. I've been hearing/thinking a lot about of friend of mine recently, though. So, today's post is for her:

Have you ever seen somebody you knew, in a store or on campus or something, but for some reason you didn't want to say hello? Not necessarily because you didn't like the person, but maybe because you didn't want to seem too clingy or stalker-ish.
Well, about a year ago, I found myself in this exact situation. I was sitting at a stop light in Davis, and my friend (who was in the car) said, "Hey, isn't that Vinny Sandhu?"
Sure enough, in the next lane and a car ahead of us, she was waiting at the same light. We both noted how cool she was, how much we liked her. I know it would have been pretty hard to get her attention, what with her being in her car with the windows rolled up and all and I never had her number so I couldn't exactly have called her up. Of course, at the time, we didn't think much of it.
Anyway, so the light turned green and Vinny drove off, and we went our direction as well. Not a big event, just a little interesting thing that happened that day.
Two and a half weeks later, I was sitting at home with my mom. She was on the phone with a good family friend of ours. My "auntie" was telling my mom that her daughter was really upset, crying hysterically for hours. Her best friend had died that day. Mom asked who it was that passed and said her name out loud.
"Vinny Sandu?"
My hands shot straight up to cover my gaping mouth and I stared wide-eyed at the carpet below me. My mind kept going back to that day, two and a half weeks before, when Vinny was simply on her way home from another day at school. I saw it over and over...
I wish I had honked.
I drive by the scene of the accident a few times per week; I still see the skid marks on the road. The grass on the side of the road is still black and burned. There is still a cross with flowers erected in her memory in the middle of the charred grass.
I still ask myself,"Why," even though I may never understand.

Moral of the story: Just say hello to that person even if they are just an acquaintance, because you never know when, or if, you'll see them again.