Our Story part Two: Senior Year

After the prom, Scott felt the same way I did; confused. I was in high school. And not just in high school, but a junior in high school. And he was 20 years old, into his second year of college. He didn’t want to be that creepy college guy dating a high school girl. But he had felt the sparks too and wasn’t sure how to proceed. And then he caught wind of my new boyfriend from his mom and that settled that. It was over. But the emailing wasn’t.

We didn’t email a lot. But just sporadically, random little funny quips back and forth. Things with my brother were a rocky and he was someone who knew him and could relate, understand and support me. So our little cyber friendship continued.

That summer my parents and I took our first big over seas vacation. We visited family in Prague and good friends in London. We were gone for over two weeks and Scott emailed me several times while there. And sadly, in my box of old emails and cards, those emails are not there. And it’s too bad. They were witty. And his words resonated in me and made me smile the whole trip. Mr. Colgate emailed me too, but it wasn’t the same.

That fall I began my senior year of high school. And what better way to kick off the school year then with a monster case of Mono. I was out of school for almost two weeks and then on half days for another week or so. It was horrible. But in the mail came the funniest thing. I don't think I quite understood his humor back then, but I remember laughing out loud at this silly story he made me. He sent me a get better soon card and coloring books, because as he wrote "nothing spells cure like coloring books."

I still have the coloring books he sent me. Ella likes to color in them. Well except for the power ranger one. Because that is for boys.

A few times that fall Scott’s older brother’s fiancee Colleen came into town and I would run into her at church. I had met her the night of the prom and instantly liked her. She was always warm and happy to see me. She casually mentioned one time that Scott had pictures of me all over his room. I didn’t know what that meant. But I remember it sending shock waves to my brain, not knowing what to think about it.

Around the same time I slowly realized that my relationship with Mr. Colgate was doomed to fail. His attachment was greater than mine and although it took me several months to finally make the break, after Christmas I said good bye to the boy with the smile.

Scott came in town that Christmas. This time he brought me a Laker Ball key chain. To “show my Laker pride” he said.

Um, who are the Lakers?

That same Christmas break someone else came home from college. Someone very dear to me. Someone I had dated very briefly but very seriously several years earlier. His coming around stirred up old emotions and a lot of unfinished business. And within weeks of breaking up with Mr. Colgate I began dating Mr. Serious.

Mr. Serious was just that. Serious. He was the most determined, focused person I knew. He had amazing goals and would settle for nothing less. His maturity was refreshing and different and I fell pretty hard for him.

Scott came back into town for the Super Bowl and for some reason invited me over to watch it. I can’t even tell you who played. Because I showed up, ate an enormous bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup with yummy homemade Arky noodles and promptly fell asleep on the couch. It was a casual family affair with people I knew well enough and for some reason the din of the comfortable chatter around me lulled me to sleep. I awoke startled that I had slept through the game. Thankfully Scott thought it was funny and asked if I wanted to see a movie. I obliged. It was the least I could do. I mean I did just sleep the afternoon away on his couch. We saw Finding Forrester. And it was casual enough. I didn’t feel any tension or apprehension. It was like watching a movie with a friend. A friend that was liking me again. And was trying to work his way back into my life, whether I was aware of it or not.

That spring was a big deal for me. I turned 18. I was in the spring musical. I directed a one-act play. I had my senior prom. And then I graduated. I requested Mr. Serious to come into town for all of these events. But seeing as he lived a few hours away and didn’t have a car made this difficult. Scott on the other hand began making it known that he was eager to be involved. I don’t think he ever realized I was dating Mr. Serious. Something I felt bad about at the time, but never could figure out a way to tell him. He came into town to see me in my play. I didn’t know how to react to it because I had a boyfriend, and whether or not Scott knew about him, he existed. So when Scott asked to take me out after my performance I stalled. I didn’t know what his expectations were if any. I wasn’t going to deny his flirtatious behavior, I wasn’t an idiot. I think I was just in denial that it was all happening. But I finally agreed and we ate pizza on my living room floor and watched Shanghai Noon. It was harmless and I remember wondering why I had worried myself so much over it. The next night, before my performance began a mutual friend of mine and Scott’s showed up back stage. He was grinning from ear to ear and promptly pulled flowers from behind his back and said “Special delivery!” I was startled. This was a bold statement for Scott to make. Sadly, I do not remember what he wrote in that card, but I remember it brought tears to my eyes. Tears because I did not know what to do. Tears because he was so sweet and was making such an effort and the person that I really wanted to be there didn’t even call me to ask how my performance went.

And so it went. Every special occasion was another situation in which Mr. Serious would let me down. There were several things that made our relationship difficult but the biggest was the lack of effort. Long distance is hard enough without such huge obstacles like not having transportation. And as supportive as my parents were, they could only go get him so many times.

The final straw came for my graduation. Scott kept emailing me hints that he wanted to be invited. And I kept dodging them. Mr. Serious would be home for college by then and I wanted him there. But as luck would have it, Mr. Serious’ sister was graduating from college the same time I was and so off to Seattle he went leaving me behind to once again be disappointed.

The week after I graduated Scott made an even bigger attempt to get my attention. He invited me to San Luis for his brother’s graduation. And it wasn’t just a “hey come hang out with me” it was a “hey my whole family is coming over why don’t you ride over with my brother and ride home with my sister” kind of thing. And even though I knew his whole family, the idea of being surrounded by them overwhelmed me.

By this point I knew things with Mr. Serious were done. I was over it. Unfortunately, he was still out of town. And so while I knew I was done, he didn’t. Which is why my mom interceded. She told me not to go to the coast with the Chamblesses until I finished things with Mr. Serious. It wasn’t fair to him she said. And while I respected her opinion, my stubborn mind had been made up. I was moving on from Mr. Serious. And what better way then to distract myself with a fun weekend at the coast with a loud, large, crazy family. And so I did just that.