Part II...

Part two…
Well, like I said, I was not aware that a simple conversation would lead to a disastrous first date and a new guitar. So, things go on pretty slow for a few weeks. I am busy planning my future by way of a far off college, getting ready for graduation, etc. True to form, my sister makes fast friends in our youth group, and is instantly in the ‘in’ crowd. Also true to form, I, needless to say, did not. I have never been outgoing…. Will never be outgoing… and have always been pretty much overshadowed by my siblings in the personality department. Not that I mind… that’s just the way we operate. My siblings are the loud, vivacious, energetic ones. If you want to be the center of attention, seek them out a party. If you want to engage in a dry-witted, cerebral, slightly self-deprecating discussion of various issues, then come sit by me. Anyways, the point was that I tend to be on the fringe of the group versus the center. But, the chubby guy with the glasses kept seeking me out... to talk to, to sit with, etc. It became clear to pretty much everyone but me that this nerdy guy had a crush on the new girl… that would be me. Pretty soon, what began as a first conversation about the merits of time travel turned into a friendship. This nerdy guy in glasses always seemed to make me laugh. Life for me was pretty stressful at that time in other areas, and I was in a constant state of rush, checking my watch every two minutes, always having to be somewhere. This drove the nerdy guy nuts… so, he came up with this idea that anytime I was at church, that I was not allowed to have my watch on. So immediately upon my entering the building, he would grab my arm, take off my watch, and put it in his pocket. He swears now that it was for my well-being… I swear now that he just wanted an excuse to touch me. Not to mention, that if I wanted my watch back, I had to always come find him at the end of the service… So, this continues for a few weeks.
Here comes a weekend in May. I am still pretty clueless about the crush Sugarbear is nursing for me, so I was totally caught off guard when he called and asked me to the movies… the nerdy guy asked me to go see Prince of Egypt with him… yes, the Dreamworks animated movie about Moses. I, at first, said yes, being kind of blindsided by the invitation. Sugarbear called the morning of the engagement to see what time I wanted to go… and I did a horrible, no good, very bad thing. Being the snotty girl I was at the time, I made the last minute decision that I didn’t want to go out with the chubby computer nerd… because I didn’t want anyone to think we were dating… so……….. I can’t believe I’m confessing this… I fibbed to get out of the date. I told him some stupid story about having to clean my house… and if you know me well, you know that I am a horrible liar… I can’t tell a story to save my life. So, it was obvious to Sugarbear that I was fibbing… and nothing he could say could make me change my mind… poor Sugarbear. His disappointment was palpable… later I realized the courage it took for someone who was even more on the fringe and introverted than I, to take that step to ask me out… and I felt even more guilty… but that’s ok, I guess, I think I’ve made up for it since! So, anyways, poor Sugarbear. His tone as we hung up the phone was one of poor disappointment… I should have felt horrible! It was much, much later that Sugarbear told me what he ended up doing that day… He was so depressed that I had stood him up, that he took all of the money he had saved, and blew it on a new guitar… that he promptly named after another girl… he still has that guitar… and it is still named after that other girl! And he still tells this story when he gets the opportunity to tell someone about his guitars…

Sugarbear counts this as our first date… I do not… so stay tuned the story of what I consider our first date! Part III!