This is a tribute to Zipado321, based on her story "My Boobs" and some of her other writing. It is my sincerest hope that my story can bring her out of retirement.
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Sunday Morning, 6:00 A.M.
I bet you'd be surprised at how much I've thought about you over the years. Especially considering when we met, I was giving you and the other incoming freshman your first tour of the school. Some of the freshmen girls on your tour were trying badly to flirt with me - I was, after all, not just a senior but also the tailback on the football team, and they'd no doubt seen my picture in the paper. So I flirted back, albeit harmlessly.
But you weren't like them. In fact, you didn't say anything (at least to me) the whole time. But we kept making eye contact. Do you remember? You were what, 3 years younger? But I couldn't stop stealing glances. Yes, part of it was that even then you had a really impressive chest, but there was something about the way you carried yourself that really captivated me.
I was still in that fucked up, on-again-off-again relationship with Dana. I'm sure you remember her. Cheerleader. Black hair. Pointy nose. A real bitch. We'd been dating and fighting for 2 years. But she was the first (and up until then the only) girl I'd ever been with, and though no one ever would have guessed it, I was too insecure to break up with her for good.
I still remember the first time you and I spoke. It was after school - I was heading to the locker room after football practice and you were sitting on the stairs with one of your friends. You saw me looking at you. I said "hey." You said "hey." It wasn't much, but it was enough to make me notice my heart beating just a little bit faster. As I went in the building I heard your friend ask "Do you know him?" I didn't hear your reply.
It was a few days later that I had a fight with Dana in the cafeteria. I went for a walk to cool off and saw you at your locker.
Side note: It's funny what school does to a person. In any other setting, I probably wouldn't have approached you. But in that little world, I was a celebrity. I could do whatever I wanted.
"Hey," I said again. Some opening line, right?
You didn't see me coming, and I made you jump. "Oh my god, you scared me," you said.
"I'm here to announce the prettiest girl in the hallway award," I said. Of course, there was no one else in the hallway. "But the winner wasn't here to collect, so I guess I'll give it to you."
You brushed your hair aside with your hand. You were a little nervous. "Funny guy," you said. Which is exactly what I meant about you being different. I think a lot of the other girls in your class would have acted ditzy or embarrassed or something. You were, well, just you.
"Where 'you going?" I asked.
"English," you said.
"Can I walk you there?" I asked.
"If you want."
"I'm Eddie," I said, extending my hand.
"Laura," you said.
And that's how we "officially" met. We stood outside your classroom until the bell rang. I admit, the conversation was a little awkward, but neither of us seemed to mind.
"I'll see you around," I said.
"OK," you said. Then you smiled at me. It made my day.
It's funny the role that fate plays in things like this. We might never have talked again if we both hadn't signed up for that trip to go see Les Miserables. On the way to the theater, I sat in the back of the bus with some of my friends, and you were up front. But once again, we kept catching ourselves looking at each other.
I actually had butterflies when I walked up to you in the theater. I never told you that. "You know," I said, "this is supposed to be very scary. I can protect you - but only if you sit next to me."
You laughed. I smiled. We sat next to each other. It took me 20 minutes after the show started to get up the courage to reach over and hold your hand, but I'm so glad I did. I don't remember a thing about that play, but I remember exactly how you smelled, I remember every time you looked at me, and I remember how both of our hands were sweating with an electric mix excitement and nervousness.
It hurt me to not say anything to you on the bus ride home. But it would have attracted a lot of attention - I was a senior, you were a freshman, I had a girlfriend, et cetera, et cetera. That's why I knew I had to offer you a ride home.
Life changes a lot in those years. You had to call your dad from the payphone to tell him you had a ride home. Meanwhile, I could have driven my car to Alaska and my dad wouldn't have cared as long as I was at school the next day.
We held hands again in the car. Our conversation was a little more natural, and your personality really started to come out. We got to your street and you pointed out your house to me, but I intentionally drove one house past it. I parked and unbuckled my seatbelt. My butterflies had really picked up - I could feel them beating against my stomach. I put my hand on your cheek and kissed you. You kissed back.
I wasn't sure if you'd ever been kissed before. You didn't open your mouth a whole lot, and you were a little tentative with your tongue, but you were so soft and gentle. I could feel you breathing in my mouth. Then you made an inadvertent little moan and we busted up laughing. It was the best kiss of my life.