Story Time Part 1 – An Innocent Love at First Sight
*All names have been changed for the sake of anonymity*
As a college freshman you could either be very experienced with boys (have had a lot of boyfriends or hookups) or have little to no experience (have never been in a relationship or have hooked up with 0-2 guys). I’d like to think I’m personally somewhere in the middle. I have never been in a “real” public relationship but I have been in love. I have been in love with the same guy for, give or take, 6 years. This guy and I have had an on and off thing for the last 6 years. Having strict parents prevented me from having a real relationship during middle school and high school. Since that rule was heavily enforced in my family my whole life I decided to just accept it and only look at boys as silly creatures that misbehaved in class and allowed me to accompany them in weekly basketball games during recess. That all changed on the second day of 6th grade, where it all began.
It was the second day of sixth grade and my first class of the day was earth science with Mrs. Walsh and I was running a second late because I went to the water fountain before class and walked in and most of the seats were full except for a couple in the back, so I quickly took my seat and waited for Mrs. Walsh to take attendance. Before attendance, she handed out a sheet of paper that was going to be that night’s homework. Then she began attendance, starting with Julie Alexandra, and going down the list according to her seating chart that she made on the first day (the day prior). After a few names were called a boy opened the door and scurried in discretely and came to the back and sat in the seat behind me, I didn’t really look back or pay much attention to who it was and waited for my name to be called. Not long after Mrs. Walsh pointed to a young man in the front and called the name Chris Carolini, the young man looked puzzled and said: “Sorry Mrs. Walsh, I’m Jerry Levy…” Mrs. Walsh now looking puzzled and correcting her chart said “Oh jeez! Then where’s Chris Carolini?” and the boy that scurries in late and was sitting behind me raised his hand and said “Mrs. Walsh, I’m over here” and I turned around to match a face to his voice and couldn’t believe my eyes. Behind me sat the most intriguing and attractive young man I had ever seen in my life. Everything from his eyes to that big smile. He looked like he just hopped out of bed and was wearing a gaming t-shirt and his brown hair was all ruffled in a tidy yet messy manner, his blue/green eyes were lit with excitement and slight embarrassment from what had just happened with the seating chart incident but that big goofy smile was on display for all to see. Needless to say, it was love at first sight. I immediately started blushing and he looked my way and I quickly turned around and pretended to reorganize the papers on my desk (classic 6th-grade girl reaction, I know). Then Mrs. Walsh fixed her seating chart and continued with attendance and her lesson plan. Some time had passed and Mrs. Walsh was asking questions from the reading assigned the night before and I was doodling in my assignment pad, not really paying attention, and she called on me and asked: “What substance, when heated and compressed, makes the precious mineral we know as diamond?” I had no idea and I certainly didn’t want to make a fool of myself on the second day of middle school. I nervously looked at my notes and looked around the class hoping to find the answer when eventually I gave up and said “I’m not sure…” and Mrs. Walsh, looking slightly disappointed, said “Can anyone help her out and tell us what is heated and compressed to make diamond?” and of course, she points right behind me to Chris and he gives me a sharp smirk and says “Graphite is the substance that is heated and compressed to make diamond Mrs. Walsh” she responded happily saying “Thank you Chris!” and I look back at him and say a sassy “Thank you” and he grins his big grin and says “No problem!” with a slight giggle. Since that day, we continued to be flirty in a sarcastic and sassy way and that eventually developed into a friendship. We were friends throughout middle school and then things got interesting…
(to be continued in Part 2)