Who Knew?
By Tayler, age 14, California
He has been my best friend since the beginning of seventh grade. I had a crush on him then. We dated ... well, I wouldn't consider it dating ... for three days. Kevin had come up with an excuse to break up with me. I was shattered when he said, "My mom grounded me, and she said we can't date now." I'd always felt that wasn't what he had meant. Either his friends, who didn't seem to like me, talked him out of seeing me, or else he just wanted to sugar coat the fact that he didn't like me.
In retaliation, I did date his best friend, and I do regret it. My friends were insane, and possibly still are. You know that when kids first understand what sex is they tend to talk about it all the time, and that's what they did. They went up to Clay and made a comment that made me seem like, well, not a very nice girl. Kevin then thought he had lost me for good. To use his words, "From what they said you didn't seem to be the purest flower."
After that we drifted. I became a cheerleader and extremely busy. Eighth grade was the year I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to find myself. Kevin was not in any of my classes and I barely saw him. When I did talk to him that year it was always when I was in a rush to get to the next class or practice.
It wasn't until May of this year, right before graduation, that I realized I still liked him as more than a friend. I'd bought my Magic Mountain ticket early for the trip with the school, so I was on one of the first charter buses. I sat next to my "in-a-teenage-sense-sister" on the bus. Kevin got on the bus, and the only seats left were the ones right in front of us. I got to talk to Kevin, just like I used to. We got back in touch, and we exchanged cell phone numbers. I was terrified to go to Magic Mountain, because the only roller coaster I had ever been on was the Matterhorn at Disneyland. So I was in no way prepared to ride Goliath. Kevin promised he would sit with me on that ride, and he kept his promise, even though I had gotten lost and he had to figure out where to find me. I had no idea where I was going.
On the bus ride home from the Magic Mountain trip Kevin and I were the only ones awake. We sat there and talked about everything. I could not stop smiling. I'd come to the realization that I was meant to be right there in that moment with him.
Summer school was when everything changed. I'd always been oblivious to everything, so I didn't expect what happened next. My life is forever different. It was the first week, and he was in my high school advanced prep class, and I made him sit in front of me. Then on Wednesday, he casually asked if I wanted to go see a movie with him, and of course I said yes. I walked out of the classroom totally confused. I had never really been asked out, and I wasn't sure if it was a date.
When I got home my mom told me she had made plans for me with my friend Krystyna to go see a movie and for her to sleep over that weekend. I called Kevin and asked if I could bring her along because she was supposed to have invited a guy to come along with us. Right then and there, Kevin thought that he truly had no chance with me. I sat next to him and Krystyna, and throughout What Happens in Vegas the only time he and I ever held hands was during the credits. I was constantly blushing when I got popcorn down my shirt. After that day, I felt like an idiot. I believed I'd screwed up everything.
I called him an hour after we last saw each other, and I had Krystyna ask him if he liked me, because I really didn't think he liked me. I was totally oblivious to everything. He said he liked me a lot, and he'd never ever stopped liking me since that day we were separated. The whole ten hours that we were on the phone the question was, Does this mean we're dating?
I said, "Oh yes, honey, I'm ready for this crazy ride," and he laughed and agreed with me. But during that conversation I asked, if he liked me so much, why did he break up with me in the first place? Why did he just say goodbye to that relationship? His answer made me radiate with a glow of happiness. "Because I know now that I want you in my life no matter what. And in that moment I saw the relationship going sour, so I ended it. I would rather have you in my life as a friend than not at all. And so if you see this ending badly, speak up, then we will just be friends."
"Wow," was the only word in the English language I said for like an hour after our phone conversation. His wait was well worth the two years. He finally had me, and he is completely satisfied. He got me, and I got the part of me that went missing when we fell downhill. I realized I was where I was supposed to be - in his arms at the end of the day. Who knew that we would make it this far?
