Shenandoah Beauty

I think most of us (me and you, the readers) remember how great/ horrible high school was for us. I remember my first dance, first friend, first time someone made fun of me but most of all, I remember my first high school crush.

I began high school in the fall of an undisclosed mid-late 90s time frame at Colonel White high school. Having had a bad experience in middle school, I was a little hesitant on speaking to anybody. In my first month, I found myself extremely bored, mostly because I didn't talk to anybody, and began an old habit I picked up in middle school, skipping classes.One particular day, I sat on the outside steps of the school,debating whether or not to skip when I heard the door open. I panicked, thinking it was a school security guard but seeing who came through the door would make me panic more than any authority figure could, at least at that time.

"Let me guess, the lunch sucked to you too." said a short, caucasian girl. Her hair was blond and frizzy, she wore coke bottle glasses, a row of braces lined her teeth, top to bottom and in my eyes, she was beautiful. I was terrified but I hid it behind a smirk, the first time my face had a positive expression since school started. "It was pretty gross" I said and she smiled, showing off her beautiful braces. I introduced myself, proving that I was more vocal towards women then than I am now, and she told me her name and that she was new. We chatted until we heard the bell and ran inside, with her turning around right when I decided to look at butt. "Well, see ya around."" she said, running off in the opposite direction of where I was going.
An hour later, I had choir class, a class I despised so much that I mostly sat in the back to avoid being seen by the teacher. This day, I sat in such a reclusive spot, I'm sure I could've fallen asleep. A couple of minutes after class had started, the door opened and  there she was again. She handed a slip to the teacher, I guess letting him know she was new and as she turned to face the class, I stood up, hoping she would notice me. She saw me, giving me a small wave but choosing to sit in the front. I was taken aback that she didn't sit next to me but hell, at least she acknowledged me and when class was over, I wanted to be with her but this was my last class and wanted to catch my bus and be at home even more.
Within the months, I felt like I now had a purpose to come to school, her. When she was there, I couldn't have been happier and when she wasn't , I sulked hard. I remember one night when I stayed up to watch "The Lost Boys" (1987) on a school night and just when I was about to go to bed, Wes Craven's "Deadly Friend" (1986) came on. Now I really didn't care to stay up and watch another horror film, a bad looking one at that, but then I saw the character of Sam, played by actress Kristy Swanson and I saw her. Because of the resemblance, I watched this horrible movie in all it's glory and by the time it was over, it was time for me to get ready for school. This experience might explain my long standing crush on said actress.

No, not her but make her hair frizzy, give her braces and coke bottle glasses and just maybe... 

Even though she gave me a purpose to come to school, I still skipped regularly (sometimes, girls aren't enough of an initiative). My schoolwork was suffering, my teachers were concerned and even she admitted she thought I had a rare disease that kept me out of school.

After our school's Christmas break, I returned to student life like nothing happened but it wasn't going to go so easy. Some classmates who I had been grouped with in my science class weren't happy with my lack of being there. I brushed this off and waited for lunch time to come so I could see her. When it happened, I literally ran to the door that lead outside to meet her. I waited outside, in what was freezing weather, and after a few minutes, she walked out. I was ready to hug her but I saw her face and she looked very unhappy  to see me. I asked her what was wrong and she let me know that she was upset that I had not been there, especially before break. She dug through her purse and handed me a Christmas card. "It doesn't mean that much now but here" she said. I was very moved that this girl, who I may or may not have in love with, had taken the time out of her day to buy me a Christmas card. Unfortunately, I think the only words I could muster were "Oh, wow, thanks!"

After that, I began to attend class regularly, and yes, I mostly did it for her. My grades started to come up and being a little more sociable, not just with her but with other to people too. Then, it all came crashing down in three words from her; "My family's moving."

I swear I heard my heart shatter when she told me that but I all I mustered up was a cold "Oh, really, where?". I even remember her telling me where she and her family were moving to, Arkansas. She told me they were moving in two weeks and at that point I stuck to her like white on rice, probably much to her annoyance. On her last day, we sat next to each other on the school steps, in the cold and in silence. I wasn't sure what to say other than good luck. She wasn't sure what to say other than thanks. I wanted to tell that I loved her, or as much as 14 year old knew about love. I wanted to beg her not to go but it wasn't up to her and when the bell rang for us to go to class, we did. In choir class, I sat in the back and she sat in the front, as normal. The first 20 minutes were a blur as all I did was stare at the back of her blond hair and then the teacher asked us to stand for us to sing "Shenandoah". We all sang and I saw her walk up to the teacher and say something and he shook his head, without missing a beat and she walked towards the door. She turned around, looked at me and waved bye to me like she'd see me tomorrow. I wanted to run to her and kiss her but my legs froze and all I did was wave back to her. She walked out and though it couldn't really be heard, I heard the door close, loudly.