I realized I’ve mentioned my girlfriend without exactly explaining who she is or our story. It’s actually one of the coolest stories I have to tell, and it’s one that I’m proud of.

I met Meghan the first day of my sophomore year. She was this tiny, cute girl sitting next to me in my 2nd block geometry class. I assumed she was a freshman, so I left her alone for the most part, but I really did think she was adorable. She was shy, and quiet as anything.

Weeks went by, and I started to crack through her shell. I found out she had lived in Germany for four years before moving to my town, which was cool because I lived there for three years as a child. She and I texted back and forth, bantering in class, but never went on any dates. At the homecoming football game, I put my arm around her, but she never really seemed comfortable. Afterwards, I asked her straight up, since I had already put my own ego on the line, if I had a chance with her. She put it quite frankly- she liked me, but she wasn’t ready to date me. A month went by, and I sort of gave up on her. We never really totally disconnected though. We ended up getting paired as partners for driver’s ed- I have never been as concerned for my own safety as I was when she nearly drove into oncoming traffic. She was there when I passed my license test and was finally able to drive by myself, and I felt bad because her driving into oncoming traffic had caused her to fail.

A few more months went by, and the summer time came. We were still friends, but she was going on dates with a different guy but not yet officially in a relationship with him, and I was dating an older girl, and had been for several months. Finally, July came. The older girl broke up with me. I was crushed- I thought I was going to fall in love with her, and to hear her say that it was over simply wrecked my ego. I spent a week or two being a total drag on my friends. I did some things I’m not proud of during that period.

Then one day I texted meghan and asked if she wanted to hang out. She replied that she’d love to, so she picked me up and we went to get ice cream. I payed (clearly an indicator of a date) and we walked around for quite a while, laughing and joking. In the car on the way home, she looked at me and asked “When Jenny broke up with you, that hurt, didn’t it?”

I bit off a tear. “Yeah. I don’t really want to talk about it though.” What I actually meant was “Yeah, but I think you’re going to fix that hurt.” In the weeks that followed, we went on several dates. Each and every one ended with me hugging her in her front yard, half tempted to pick her up and kiss her like I’d never kissed someone before, half scared she’d slap me. One night I almost did, but lost the nerve at the last moment and simply smiled and went off to the fire station. A very good friend of mine was sitting on the bumper of the fire engine as I pulled in. He looked at me, cigarette lighting up his face with an quiet orange glow, and smiled. “You look lost, dude. Women?” I smiled and nodded. I explained the situation as traffic rushed by in front of us. People oblivious to life passing them by, unaware of the opportunities they were missing. Too busy to stop and enjoy life. “Dude… You need to be a man here. You need to make a decision and you need to make it right. It’s not every day that you meet someone who makes you this happy, and its almost never that they’re female, and it is literally once in a lifetime that she’s an attractive female. If you really like her, show her. If you really want her, show her. If you really care about her, show her. You have to be a shoulder to cry on, a hand to pull herself up on, a lover, and a friend. You have to be a man. But if the work I’ve seen you do here is any indication… I’d say that fag she was dating doesn’t stand a chance.” I smiled up at the muggy August sky. The tree frogs were roaring in my ears, and the smell of his cigarette could have been the most beautiful wildflower. I realized what I had to do.

The first week of school brought new questions into our already complicated situation- her previous crush, Matt, wanted a second chance. I had several nervous nights where I wasn’t sure that I’d even get a chance with her. That thursday she called me, and I feared the worst. “Matt and I are done. He said we didn’t click…” 

“Well… I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but I can’t say I’m not excited that I’ll have a chance…” was my reply. I had to work that night, and it ended up being ridiculously busy as catastrophic floods hit the county. We had off school that friday, so she and hung out again. We watched TV in her basement, and I was talking her ear off. Finally, she turned to me and asked “Is there a way to shut you up?” Adrenaline shot through me, and I did the only thing I could think of- I kissed her.

“Well. that took long enough.” She kissed me again, and we both rolled off the couch.

She was wearing a Claddagh ring. Worn one way, it meant you were single, but turned around it indicated that you were happily taken. I took her hand and turned her ring around and slipped it back on her finger.

“Is that ok?” I asked, my forehead against hers.

“Eh, I guess you’ll be tolerable.”

So that’s the beginning of our story. I’ll tell the rest later.