#1

The Meet-Cute

I just turned 16. I go for walks daily.  It gets me out of my house.  It adds freckles to my arms and legs.  I can develop my love affair with the wind and the sun.  I always plug my headphones in my CD Player and put my favorite songs on repeat.  It's not uncommon for my walk down the street to become a dance down the street.  I live in the middle of nowhere.  Trees outweigh neighbors 20 to 1.  So, I guess it gives me my fix of alone time.  As I come around the second curve, to my surprise there are people ahead.   Two guys around my age are talking on the side of the road.  One is sitting on a lawn mower.  I grow a little nervous realizing I am about to meet two new neighbors.  Fast forward one foot in front of the other.  The guy on the mower is Lance.  He's a Senior, a year ahead of me in school.  The other guy is Cory.  He's only a sophomore, a year behind me.  They had both just moved into the neighborhood.  Cory was going to be the new kid at school.  Lance had been in the school district for 3 years, but we had never talked to each other.  That was about to change.  It's a few weeks later.  I've headed out for another walk.  By the time Lance's house comes into view, I see his grey shirt bobbing through the trees.  He meets me in the road, and asks me for my phone number so we can talk other than in the middle of the road.  I give it to him.  He calls.

The Friendship

We start talking a few nights a week.  Most days we will talk online, and when it's lights out we will finish the conversation on the phone from my closet.  My walks become more frequent and more nocturnal.  By October I'm sneaking out of my window to climb onto a church roof with him.  (no that's not a euphemism we actually climbed onto the roof of the church down the road).  In real life, when the sun is out, we aren't that close.  We don't have any mutual friends.  No classes together.  Our lockers are in different hallways.  In time, I introduce him to all my friends.  This backfires quite a bit.  Somehow he manages to date each one in turn.  Awesome.  I get to hear about it all on a church roof.   Then he gets an actual girlfriend, Cooper, from a different town.  This is much better.  I can handle hearing about someone I don't know.  I also get to spend time with the guy who is becoming one of my best friends without stepping on anyone's toes.  It's a great time of rock music and no sleep.  

The Crossover

It's 2004, now.  Lance is still dating Cooper.  We sneak out one night.  We commandeer a can of weedkiller, and head for an open field near his house.  For the next 30 minutes we blindly spray the shape of a smiley face into the grass.   Over the next week we see the shape become more and more pronounced as the grass dies.  You can catch glimpses of the smiley as you drive by for months.  A few days later, we head out for another night of fun.  I decided we should turn left instead of right this time, and we head towards ground I am familiar with.   His eye is swollen, and his nose looks broken because he had just lost in a boxing contest.  I was trying to take his mind off of it.  I subtly grab some mud out of a puddle.  I ask him a question.  As he answers, I slowly smear the glob of  mud down his cheek.  Well, I accomplished my goal of distraction, but I was now under attack.  An hour later, on our way back home, covered in mud we come upon a freshly erected STOP sign.  Add the muddy element, and you've got yourself an easy steal.  No need to even take the sign off the post.  Lance carries the contraband slung over his shoulders the rest of the way home.  Including when he slipped trying to get over a ditch and fell on his ass.   I was done.  All I wanted to do was kiss the poor boy, and he had to have a girlfriend.  

That changed after a couple of weeks.  Soon we weren't just sitting on the church roof.  That is, if we made it that far.  Usually, I spent a few nights out of the week in his bedroom.  One particular night, his aunt was out of town and he cooked for me and blasted Hoobastank's The Reason over and over until the wee hours.  He would always fall asleep, and I would take my ass out his window down the street and into my window.  I was late for school all the time.  enough times that I was put in In School Suspension (ISS) much like solitary confinement.  The lunch time office aid was given the duty of delivering our lunches.  Lance bribed the aid to smuggle me in a bag of gummy bears.  Only appropriate since he was the reason I was in there.  One night he fell asleep as usual, but this time I ended up falling asleep right there on top of him.  A couple hours later I open my eyes and see light.  Holy shit.  The sunrise.  I never ran so fast before or since.  

The Breakdown

Prom was an issue.  He wanted me to go with him.  The problem came from the fact that I had acquired a date while he was still dating Cooper.  I couldn't switch.  He was mad.  So he brought a slutty ex-girlfriend.  I cried in Nicole's lap.  We got over it.  I apologized by making him our own prom for just the two of us.  (really it was just a CD player and a country CD planted in a secluded place. Did I say I was 16?).  A few weeks later we were arguing about nothing and I was crying again.  A few weeks later he decided to sleep with four different girls and cause girl fights in math classrooms the day before graduation.  I wasn't involved physically, though I was told my name was mentioned.  He graduated and left for the marines.  I got one letter a few months later telling me he was in hell.  I sent one back saying that sucks I'm amazing.  I marked out his name in every journal entry I wrote for the entire year.  I got quite a bit more sleep.  

Leah K.

I use nicknames when I talk about people to my friends.  For the longest time his was Jackass.   

I attended a very small school in Texas.  I moved there right before the 4th grade.  The same 70 people were with me throughout the next 9 years give or take a few implants.  I didn't date much in school.   I was the new girl while I was still cute in 4th grade.  Really shy.  Then about 6th grade my awkward years started.  I was skinny as hell.  I got glasses the next year, and then braces the next.  I didn't grow boobs, but I did get acne.   If you haven't noticed I'm covered in freckles and I have orange-ish hair.   My classmates witnessed all of this.   My friends got boyfriends.  I got ignored.  In about the 10th grade I realized it was time to cut my hair short, and  get contacts.  I got my braces off.  I wore make-up sometimes.  But, I fear the damage was done.  The guys knew me as the unattractive little friend, and I was still too shy to make a different impact.  Sometimes I tried.  I would put on a short skirt, high heels, my contacts, make-up, fix my hair.  Mostly, I got comments from the gay guy.  "Girl, you are hot stuff today!"  Great for a boost of confidence, but useless in the area of getting a date.  

It is senior year.  I had vowed not to worry about relationships with guys this year.  It was my time to have the best year of my life with my friends.  You can open my yearbook from that year, and know I succeeded.  I had mostly blow-off classes.  I had loaded up on advanced sciences and college courses the past two years, and this year was for fun.  Art, Theater Arts, Interior Design, Apparel (sewing), Office Aid.  My theater teacher hated me.  That meant I got the smallest parts in the plays.  So, most of my time was spent in the little room off the stage with the other Small Part People.  Senior was one of them.  We had known each other since 4th grade.  Had classes together.  He knew my sister, I knew his brothers.  He had piercings and tattoos done by his self or a friend.  One of the nicest guys I knew.  Never failed to actually talk to me, which was rare.  He would ask about my friends' drama and then ask what I thought about it.  Me?  We talked about music.  We talked about his friends and family.  I enjoyed the part of the day we had together.

I got it in my head to ask him to take me out.  (If I waited to get asked out, I knew it would never happen).  I figured we could drive to the lake after school or something.  I was looking forward to Theater after lunch.  I walked into 2nd period.  To the back of the class where a group of girls waited.  We called ourselves the BLLFM and blew off the boring class putting make-up on and discussing some of the girls sex lives.  F is in a good mood.  She has some news to share.   Senior asked her out!  They are together now!...  Holy Crap!  F is a Junior.  She's got perfect white skin, big boobs, mysterious choppy black hair, and lips like Angelina Jolie.  How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?   

A little salt in my wounds Senior now sits across the lunch table from me right next to his girlfriend.  After lunch we spend time in the Small Part People room discussing how much he likes his new girlfriend.  And then 2nd periods were used to torment me with details of their sex life.  When he gets her a ring by prom time, I know I never had a chance.  A year after graduation, M (from BLLFM) and I get an apartment together.  Senior finds his way into my living room, with F on his arm.  Still asking me how my life is.  Asking me about M's drama.  I come away from the night with F's earrings being left on my kitchen counter as a reminder for me.   Facebook is also nice enough to keep me updated.  Years pass. I started to notice contradictory status updates.  F has a new man.  Lots of years pass.  I'm at The Nutcracker.  I spot Senior across the audience.  I get up to say, hello.  He says, "I figured you would be here. I'm here for my girlfriend. She's a dancer."  It's nice to know he keeps up with me, sort of.  Teenage crushes are a bitch.   He's a pharmacist/cook in Houston now.  Still comments on my facebook to ask me how I am.  

Leah K.

My best friend's mother was getting married.  I was excited to be asked to DJ.  All my job consisted of was pushing play, and making sure to play nothing but country songs.  Everyone was going through their jobs at the Rehearsal while I finished up placing Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, and George Strait into the perfect mix.  Country was a groomsman.  The bride's nephew.  My friend's cousin.  Introductions were made. The niceties were observed.  We all parted ways for the night.  

Like the good country girl I am, I pulled on my boots and shimmied into my dress for the occasion.  It had been a while since I put make-up on and did something with my hair.  Who says the girl standing by the sound system can't look good, too?  Even, if she is just a Mommy.  Tonight, the baby girl was with the grandparents.  It was time to relax and have a good time.  All the music went well.  The bride's requests were fulfilled.  The ceremony over.  The beer coolers in the back of the pick-ups were opened. Hello, Coors Light.  Time for a night of, "here, hold my beer." and, "where the hell did I put my beer?" My responsibilities were almost over.  The first dances were finishing up.  The Bride's family requests The Electric Slide.  Only if I get to join in!  here, Country, hold my beer.   The groom calls for nothing but country.  I press play on the Jason Aldean, and head for the dance floor.   Country, spots me partner-less.  "Want to two-step?" Do I ever!  A man who isn't afraid to dance.  A man with crinkly blue eyes and an easy smile.  There's no awkward unfamiliar feeling.  I've got a partner for the night.   That's not saying a whole lot, considering everyone else here is either over 50 or related to him.  

The young crowd, all four of us, decide to continue the fun elsewhere.  A late night at the bowling alley?  Sounds good.  A round of drinks.  The boots come off.  The conversation and the laughter starts flowing.  When we get back to the house, the other half of the double date goes inside, and leaves Country and I sitting on the tailgait.  I'm usually not this open and inviting.  I'm not sure what has gotten into me.  Hours of talking and a few kisses later I come away with plans to get together again.  

The next weekend for Halloween, I take Baby Girl to the Fort Worth zoo.  It's a pretty large group.  We pick up Country on our way.  He is nice enough to hang out with mommy and daughter the whole day.  No boredom.  No impatience.  Full of helpfulness.  He's carrying bags, and getting drinks, and lifting strollers over steps.  As I take him home, we are jamming to Hootie and the Blowfish, and Edwin McCain.  A good way to get on my good side.  We make plans for a date on a weekend to come.  

He drives up just for the date.  He finally gets to see me in my Saturday Game Day Glory.  He meets a couple of my friends.  He's not really a college football fan, but he watches me watch the game.  We are relaxed sitting together on the couch.  Hanging out.  My friends don't have anything negative to say.  

A week later, I'm calling to tell him not to come up the next weekend.   I'm not going to be going out with you anymore.   You're a great guy, though.  Thanks for being so nice and sweet.  I'm sorry.  Good luck with everything.   

I haven't spoken to him since.   

Leah K.

I think I might do an intensive study into my love life for Valentine's day this year.  I'm starting at the easiest one.  #15.  One with minimal damage, and a rather short span.   Go ahead and tell me how crazy I am for breaking this one off.  Give the guy a chance, right?  

Lance, Chops, Senior, FS, Cool, Baby daddy, married, 7 seconds, CLB, Lance, FS, Baby daddy, Lance, FS, Country, FS, Challenger, FS.   (the floats in the parade, for my own reference)