A Love Story: Piece by Piece Part 6

Oh, the summer I turned 16. And you know what that means..... driver's license! The very same week I got my license, my best friend flew in from Louisiana and my parents took us to the beach. I was in disbelief when my dad tossed me the keys and said "Why don't you girls go have some fun." I was driving, baby. My younger sister's friend from Louisiana also flew in to go to the beach with us. I think it was their goal to meet as many boys as possible that trip (teenagers... gotta love 'em) but me? I didn't talk to a single boy that week. I had someone else on my mind.

Erin (my younger sister) had a best friend named Katie. One day, she came home from spending the night with her and exclaimed "Heather! Guess where me and Katie went?"

"Don't care."

"We went to Hunter's house!"

I grabbed her by her shirt collar and pulled her face close to mine.

"You better tell me where his house is right now."

I'm just kidding, that's not how it went. Usually, all my sisters had to do was just say his name and everything went down hill from there. Literally, they would say "Hunterrrrr" and I would force back a smile, leading them to say "Don't smiiiiiile. Don't do it. Awww, why are you blushing?" OR what about the time freshman year when my older sister saw me across the hallway at school and yelled "Heather! My friend worked on the yearbook this year and let me go through a bunch of yearbook photos they were about to throw away. So I got this one for you! Here- it's a picture of Hunter playing soccer!!!"

"BRANDI!!!! Get that thing out of here! Someone will see it! And don't say his name!!!!!!! Someone will hear you!"

I still have that picture. Good thing I married him, or else I would just be a creep.

So turns out, Erin's best friend lived in the neighborhood right next to Hunter's. I'm really not sure how many times me and the BFF drove past his house that summer. Also, my best friend's little brother started skateboarding so we offered to take him to the skate park whenever he needed to be dropped off or picked up. He didn't realize that we were just using it as an excuse to do the "good big sister" thing in hopes of seeing Hunter.

I never did see Hunter that summer. And you know I didn't dare call the phone number he wrote in my yearbook. But I did go skipping into my junior year thinking we'd pick up where we left off. I'm sure you know my extreme disappointment when I realized after the first day that I had zero classes with him. You see, I managed to get enrolled in all honors classes and well, Hunter and school just didn't mix....... know what I'm saying?

Our school was so huge that the two of us really never even crossed paths, but I did notice that Hunter's popularity had made a big peak as opposed to his freshman and sophomore year. But I just knew that it wouldn't effect us being friends if somehow we ever ran into each other.

We certainly ran into each other. I was walking back to my class one day after using the restroom. I saw Hunter coming down the hall towards me. I thought what a perfect opportunity!! I'm finally running into him and there's no one else in the hall but us! I felt nervous, but couldn't wait to stop and talk to him. Then I noticed that as he was getting closer, he still hadn't looked at me. But how could he not see me yet? It's just us two out here! He got closer.... and closer.... and closer when I realized "He's acting like he doesn't see me." I looked at him the entire time and we finally walked passed each other, and all the while, Hunter was staring away.

I was devastated. Hunter had become too good for me.

There was only one thing to do. Add a few layers to the wall around my heart and get over him. Although, I knew he was always going to be in the back of my mind. I started liking this guy 2nd semester who was in my US history class. He was popular, too, so yet again, I liked someone I had no chance with. At least he pretended to be my friend. He even bought me a pack of my favorite gum because he said he thought about me when he was in line at the store. I always fell for stuff like that.

Towards the end of junior year, one of Hunter's friends asked me to prom. At first, I told him no. Prom was not my thing, in fact, I was very anti- school events. But then Erin begged me to go because she thought I would have fun. So I wound up going and found myself smack in the middle of Hunter and all his friends on prom night. I remember when I got to Hunter's house to take 8 million pictures with a bunch of popular people I wasn't friends with, Hunter managed to speak me. "Hey Heather. You look very pretty." My heart did not flutter this time. And despite the fact that I was going to spend an entire night around Hunter, all I could think the whole time was "Why am I here?" I just remember sitting at his house after prom surrounded by kids I had nothing in common with and turned to my date and said "Can you take me home?" We were even supposed to go to a big party and then have a big co-ed sleepover but..... I just wanted to be anywhere but there.

Junior year ended and summer came. I had started to become really close with a bunch of people from my church. I noticed one guy, who was home for the summer from UT, began to give me a different kind of attention. I thought he was really cute, but he made me nervous. After hanging around him a few times, he asked for my number. One night, he called and said "How do you feel about me?" I hesitated. I remember being on the phone thinking he was really cute but I wasn't excited about the fact that he was pursuing me. After I let a long awkward silence pass, he said "I asked you that because I like you." It was the first time I was hearing a boy tell me flat out that he had feelings for me. I was excited, but it felt like someone was taking a sledge hammer to my heart's wall and not even making a dent. I wound up telling him that I liked him, too, and we decided to give things a shot. He was the first boy to take me on a date. We went to Sip of Seattle in Nashville to hear some kid named Landon Pigg (you may of heard of him? I don't know..... he was in the movie 'Whip It' and has had a few successful songs. At the time, though, he was just some guy from CPA singing in a tiny coffee shop.) He asked if he could come over to my house after the the show. I frantically called Erin and begged her to clean up downstairs. She said "Oooooohhhhh, you're gonna get your first kiss tonight!"

Well, I like him, but God, I hope not.