When the time came for my high school reunion I was in Italy and unable to attend. I think I may have wanted to go but I guess I'll never know. At that time I did start wondering how certain people were doing and where they were. These people must have been thinking the same thing because slowly they have been re-emerging into my life through the ease of the Internet. I have been given a second chance to get to know various interesting people from my childhood. I have discovered that the wildly adventurous girl is a skydiver, the big brained girl works at Stanford, the punk rock boy finally found a perfect punk rock wife, and the overachievers are still competing with each other and overachieving. Their picture albums consist of pictures of only themselves, either in their doctor coats or of carefully contrived "random" photos showing off their physiques. I enjoy it all.
There were only two people left that I wondered about. The first of the two, Z, contacted me last month after almost six years of silence. I had last spoken to him after he came out to Texas to visit me, and my boyfriend at the time acted out so badly that it pretty much ended the friendship when I stupidly did not break up with cad. After one more year of jealousy and pettiness I realized my grave error and fixed that but sadly the damage had been done to the friendship with Z because he had moved and I had no way of finding him again. Until last month.
The last person on the list was a high school boyfriend who meant a great deal to me. B was a guy who I never imagined I would end up dating, much less having a real relationship with. He had a justly earned reputation as a player and was far too worldly for a naive girl but somehow it worked. He was unrestrained in just about every aspect of life; by the time I met him when I was 14 and he was 16 he was regularly attending raves, knew where he could buy liquor underage, and his parents were not at all worried about where he and his Integra were all night. I was an honor student with very strict parents who did not let me stay out very late at all, and probably for good reason. B quickly overcame this by boldly sneaking into my window in the evenings after he dropped me off at home, or spiriting me away to adventures that I never would have known about if it weren't for him. I went to concerts and night clubs, or to the beach for a bonfire while my parents slept, assuming that I was doing the same. I have silly memories of things between us, like once when he went to pee while talking to me and did so with the door open and me standing there scandalized. He was so comfortable with himself-- maybe too comfortable-- but he managed to build an easy rapport with me despite my prudishness and he probably didn't even realize he was doing it.
One thing that makes my memories of him golden is that he felt that I was special and let me know it often and sincerely. He had a reputation that was very much deserved and admitted to me that he cheated on almost every girlfriend he had. He never disrespected me though, and in the end my good will toward him is intact. Unfortunately because of his reputation no one believed that we had not slept together for the years that we were on and off and after we broke up it led to some misunderstandings with other guys (as a result I do harbor some ill will toward them).
I last saw B the year after I graduated high school, when I came back for Spring Break. He was still the same charming, self assured, warm man that I remembered. When I asked him about our relationship he told me that he was driven to be a better boyfriend with me because he had felt that I was too good for him and this feeling was exacerbated by the fact that I trusted him. I was very lucky to have had him as my first "serious" boyfriend because the experience bolstered my confidence. I wish I could gift the experience of B to other teenage girls who have to go through growing pains and self esteem issues. So thank you, B.
There were only two people left that I wondered about. The first of the two, Z, contacted me last month after almost six years of silence. I had last spoken to him after he came out to Texas to visit me, and my boyfriend at the time acted out so badly that it pretty much ended the friendship when I stupidly did not break up with cad. After one more year of jealousy and pettiness I realized my grave error and fixed that but sadly the damage had been done to the friendship with Z because he had moved and I had no way of finding him again. Until last month.
The last person on the list was a high school boyfriend who meant a great deal to me. B was a guy who I never imagined I would end up dating, much less having a real relationship with. He had a justly earned reputation as a player and was far too worldly for a naive girl but somehow it worked. He was unrestrained in just about every aspect of life; by the time I met him when I was 14 and he was 16 he was regularly attending raves, knew where he could buy liquor underage, and his parents were not at all worried about where he and his Integra were all night. I was an honor student with very strict parents who did not let me stay out very late at all, and probably for good reason. B quickly overcame this by boldly sneaking into my window in the evenings after he dropped me off at home, or spiriting me away to adventures that I never would have known about if it weren't for him. I went to concerts and night clubs, or to the beach for a bonfire while my parents slept, assuming that I was doing the same. I have silly memories of things between us, like once when he went to pee while talking to me and did so with the door open and me standing there scandalized. He was so comfortable with himself-- maybe too comfortable-- but he managed to build an easy rapport with me despite my prudishness and he probably didn't even realize he was doing it.
One thing that makes my memories of him golden is that he felt that I was special and let me know it often and sincerely. He had a reputation that was very much deserved and admitted to me that he cheated on almost every girlfriend he had. He never disrespected me though, and in the end my good will toward him is intact. Unfortunately because of his reputation no one believed that we had not slept together for the years that we were on and off and after we broke up it led to some misunderstandings with other guys (as a result I do harbor some ill will toward them).
I last saw B the year after I graduated high school, when I came back for Spring Break. He was still the same charming, self assured, warm man that I remembered. When I asked him about our relationship he told me that he was driven to be a better boyfriend with me because he had felt that I was too good for him and this feeling was exacerbated by the fact that I trusted him. I was very lucky to have had him as my first "serious" boyfriend because the experience bolstered my confidence. I wish I could gift the experience of B to other teenage girls who have to go through growing pains and self esteem issues. So thank you, B.
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