Member-only story
How 1 Simple Question Altered the Course of My Relationships Forever
A startling epiphany that came at exactly the right time
I was a high school band nerd. He was in band too– that’s how we met– but he was anything but a nerd. Athletic (swimming, cross country, track & field), blonde hair, blue eyes, flawless skin, perfect smile. He was prettier than me, that’s for sure.
He didn’t treat me very well, but I was so starry-eyed by the fact that a guy like him had any interest in me that I didn’t really care.
We were both kind of sarcastic and obnoxious, and I think that’s why he liked me. I could put up with his crap and give it right back to him. He was a cocky, charismatic bad boy wrapped up in a letterman’s jacket.
I wanted to believe that I was the only one he could really love, because I was the only one who truly “got” him.
I wore his letterman’s jacket for six rocky months of my junior year, which is practically like a first marriage in high school. He was my first date, my first real kiss, my first real boyfriend. We clashed frequently, mostly because when I needed him to be there for me, he would retreat.
