Embarrassing Stories of Childhood Crushes

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I ‘m a bit under the weather today, which for some reason makes me want to write something fun and useless. Behold three little stories of childhood crushes.

The Chair Lift Switch

The first girl I had a crush on was named Keely. I got my mom to take me to a toy store to buy her a present (a troll doll), which I then left on her desk. Anonymously, I think. I’m pretty sure that we were eventually “dating”, but it’s hard to remember since “dating” was just a title back then.

I do remember going on a ski trip with her, though. Her friend Caitlin asked to ride the chair lift up with me, and, on the way up, asked if I’d mind if Keely dated my friend. I was too polite to say anything besides “no, that’s fine”. Keely and my friend were riding the chairlift in front of us, and I imagine they had a similar conversation.

Not So Anonymous

He also “stole” another girl I was interested in. I met her in the “new to Texas” group as a freshman in High School. We had a mutual friend named Mary who somehow arranged for us to pass anonymous notes back and forth. I still have them. At Mary’s insistence we had a phone call, back before the days of caller ID, and I somehow revealed my name by accident. Then my friend started dating her shortly after.

Three Bold Moves

A few years later I made friends with another friend’s girlfriend, Dina. The two of them broke up, we continued to be friends, and one night I found myself in her girls-only dorm room. I think I was helping her on her computer, which is the one and only move geeks have, and it never works. As she was typing away, I got into her absent roommate’s bed, and decided to try another move: the pretend-I-fell-asleep maneuver. Shockingly, it worked. Half an hour of silence later, she got in her bed. I pretended to be woken up, but too groggy to get back to my dorm. We talked for an hour or so and then started to fall asleep. After plenty of time for awkward silence, it was time for my third bold move of the night.

“So… are you really going to make me sleep in THIS bed?”

Silence.

“Are you serious?”

Pause.

“Umm…. Yes.”

“Uh, I guess not.”

I went into her bed and we made out. In front of her building there were three handicap spots that were never used. The car that I bought had handicap plates, which, of course, I never changed, so I’d park in those spots all the time. Her ex drove by the next day, saw the car, and was furious. Ten years later and it’s still awkward between us.

She and I became boyfriend and girlfriend. One night, for no reason at all, she was furious with me online. She said she never wanted to talk to me again. I launched into hero mode. I drove my car to the back door of her dorm and called her. It was raining. I told her that I was going to stay in my car outside her place until she would talk to me. I thought that this was a really valiant display of masculine honor. She told me that she was kidding around when she said she didn’t want to talk to me. Nothing was wrong at all. It was just a joke.

A month later we broke up. She sent me a really long email, which I still have, basically saying that I was a crappy boyfriend. She was right. We got back together a month later, and then I broke up with her a month after that. I wasn’t thinking it at the time, but I suspect that the whole relapse was me subconsciously wanting to be the one who did the breaking up. She’s the only ex I have who doesn’t want to talk to me.

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It took me until the Project Hollywood Days, but I did eventually learn that other friend’s exes are off-limits no matter what.


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