We were juniors in high school and we both knew of each other and had had a couple of classes together. After first block we would always pass in the back stairwell at school and for some reason Andy would always smile and say hi to me and I would smile and say hi back. This was a big deal to me. I thought he had such a sweet smile and gorgeous eyes. But Andy was unlike any other guy I had liked or "dated" in high school, so I never really admitted I "liked" him to anyone. Then on my birthday, as we passed in the stairwell, Andy smiled at me and said, "Happy Birthday!" And from that point on I was hooked. :) Now I just had to figure out if he liked me back... you know those games we all played in high school. :)
My friend Amanda was in his English class, so I had her find out if he liked anyone. Also, my friend James played soccer with him, so I told James to talk to him about me. :) Then our Beta Club had the "Beta Bachelor Bid-Off" and Andy was one of the bachelors, so I decided if no one else bid on him that I would. :) I did and I won a date with him for a dollar. At this point I am sure he knew I liked him with the way Amanda had been talking to him. I walked up to him in hall after school one day and told him that I won him in the Beta bid-off. He just kind of laughed and said he was sure I paid a hefty price... haha! :) I was still scared to ask him out... even though I was supposed to since I won him in the bid-off. My friends were really talking to him about me and his friends at soccer were too. There was definitely lots of talking and conspiring among our friends.
One day in English class he told Amanda that he liked someone in "AP History who was strong." I had a reputation at school as "the strong swimmer girl who could bench press 160." I could never bench press that much, but I did beat several of the football players at arm wrestling. This was a great reputation to have as a teenage girl... let me tell you!?!?! haha!! So when he said this, I knew he liked me too.
That afternoon, my friend Jessie and I went out to Andy's truck and left a note on it... it said, "I'm strong... is it me..." I am pretty sure the note still exists... somewhere in a box of old cards and letters we wrote to each other. Not long after I got home from school that day I got a call from Andy. He asked me to go to a movie with him that Friday night, November 13, 1998. :) We were going to go after I got done with swim practice... a 9:40 showing of "The Siege." Right after we got off the phone I called all my friends and told them. Paradise and Amanda came right over and we talked all about it!
So that Friday came and I remember very vividly standing in the back hallway outside Mr. Peterson's class giving Andy directions to my house. Let's just say I'm not the best at giving directions. Finally my neighbor, Alex, walked by and said, "you know where I live? She lives across the street and down a few houses." That was all it took.
That night I remember standing at my front door waiting for him to get there... I was so worried that he wouldn't be able to find it. He drove past my house once, so I ran out the door to let him know he was at the right house. Crazy... right? He then pulled up and got out of the car and opened my door for me. He was such a gentleman. :) We talked the whole way to the movie theater about friends, classes we'd had together, etc. There was an immediate comfortableness... nothing felt awkward or like a "first date." It kind of felt like we were old friends. We got to the movie super early... thankfully we had the movie trivia stuff on the screen to entertain us.
During the movie I kept wanting him to hold my hand or something, but he never did. I don't remember a whole lot about the movie. I don't think I liked it very much, but that didn't matter because I enjoyed my company. After the movie, it was really late, so Andy just drove me straight home. The car ride home was really quiet. We didn't talk hardly at all, but it wasn't like an awkward silence... it was a comfortable silence. Something just felt "right" about the whole night... like there was a reason we were brought together.
I remember wondering the whole way home if he was going to kiss me or not. Part of me wanted him too and part of me didn't. I think he was wondering the same thing... maybe that is why our ride home from the movie was so quiet. He pulled in my driveway, opened my door for me, and then walked me to the door. We got to the door we talked for a long time... mostly about how I had to go to my "graduated licensing" class the next morning. Then he gave me a hug and left. It was a sweet hug... a hug that meant something.
I came in and couldn't sleep. I was so giddy about the date and about Andy. I really liked him a lot. I can't say I knew after that date that I wanted to marry him, but it was just about 8 months after this that I knew that. :)
It was a great first date. I'm really glad he didn't kiss me that night... it would be six months later, and me playing a little "hard to get" before that would happen... and it was a perfect first kiss well worth the wait. Maybe I'll blog about it some day. :)
I really wish a picture existed of our first date. I was a picture and camera freak back then too, but I guess I was afraid I might scare him off if I took a picture of us on our first date!! :) haha. Here's a picture of us a few months after we'd been dating. :)So I know this is long... but I really wanted to get it written out. I think Andy tells it better than I do, maybe he will write out his perspective someday. :) So that's how we got started with "just a little note." (and some help from our friends)
No comments:
Post a Comment