Disclaimer: Robert wanted to be a part of this, so there's some of this that is genuinely his thoughts, but he wrote them from my point of view, so if it's weird...that's why.
You ever take a look at your friend or your significant other and wonder for a minute, "how'd we get here?" We're three weeks into a quarantine now, and that's what I'm starting to do. I have a boyfriend and to say our relationship has been weird would be an understatement.
It all started with a hunting accident and a scope to the forehead.
Well, that's how it started this time.
Last time, it started with a car crash after prom.
Before that, it was a frozen butterbeer, and maybe you can go back all the way to a silly little dare during freshman homecoming.
Let me tell you where it didn't start though. It didn't start at a softball tournament in Houston in 2013 since he has two younger sisters that play softball within the same bracket as me. It didn't start when I walked into the dugout, right past him after Rebecca finished her game. It definitely wasn't when my team walked through and parents' warned their girls that "the big kids were coming" since the 18u squads were some of the loudest, most obnoxious squads at the complex.
It really started on July 31, 2015. The Astros were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks and my favorite player, Craig Biggio, was being given away in bobblehead form. My dad and I made our final trip to Minute Maid Park that year, every game that summer was a chance to help me prepare for high school and losing friends, usually a reward for a good game at a showcase.
It was a broken finger that lent itself to a sympathy ball from the bullpen catcher and an annoying little kid that ran up to me trying to get one too. Soon, another guy and two girls joined the kid and me by the bullpen. The five of us stood there while Scott Feldman got into his groove and we were gifted with bubble gum before the game started. It turns out the older of the two boys came to rescue me because he knew how annoying the smaller boy could be, since that was his cousin. He introduced himself as Robert, seeming intrigued by my personality, but being the shy and awkward kid that I was, we went our separate ways.
I make my way around the stadium when I realize I want to keep talking to him, so I come up with a fantastic story about getting my hand signed by George Springer. Now, if you're going to tell me that in order to get this dude to be fully captivated by me, I just had to lie about an autograph? I wouldn't have believed you. Apparently, that's what it took though. But he enthusiastically asked to see the signature, in doing so we started talking and he asked if I wanted to sit with him since they had an extra seat. They spend the rest of the game talking, hardly paying attention to the game before them. The Astros lost that night, but you could've told me that they won and I wouldn't have debated it for a second. Yet, somewhere in the crossfire, he managed to get my number. Little did either of us know this would be the first step in this long arduous journey.
As the baseball game ended and the fireworks began Robert realized that I had gone missing, using the newly acquired number, he texted me only to find out that I had gone back to sit with my dad. He was upset but understood and wondered if he would ever get to talk to me again as he watched the fireworks blow up over his head. A couple of weeks past and they're still talking but both seem to be responding less and less frequently. As time goes on, they realize the likelihood of meeting again is slim to none and both fall off the face of the earth and enter into the hell that was high school.
A few months past and Robert realizes that he hasn’t talked to me in a while, so he does just that to make sure that she’s doing okay. Again, both parties seem fully captivated as the conversation began, but as always, history repeated itself. The next time they strike up a conversation, it’s a rare snapchat post from the boy, once again they have the same magical connection, but it always fizzles out like a firework hitting the water. Even more time passes between conversations, but the spark is still there, even after his senior prom. Speaking of sparks, this was brought up because of a car crash that weekend. No one was hurt, only his pride.
I graduate high school and begin my first year at the University of North Texas when another one of these rare snapchat posts, this time a bloody head that invoked a half-concerned Amanda. Something’s different this time, there’s a shift in the energy, probably attributed to the fact that we'll be able to meet up over winter break for the first time since meeting each other. We decided to go ice skating, though I was reserved and had nearly backed out of the date twice. To my dismay, the date goes swimmingly but is cut short when I conjure up another lie and say that I need to leave. We have our first kiss on the escalator in the Houston Galleria mall, basically the weirdest place for a first kiss but in my head, my friend's voice haunted me, "if you want to kiss him, just make the f***'n move!" It was at that moment that Robert realized this is who he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.
We continued to talk over break until he goes to Fort Worth for the Armed Forces Bowl and coincidentally gets a new phone. I, now officially interested in this guy, was a bit upset by being ghosted after four and a half years of this chaos. I text him and at that moment he realizes that he forgot to redownload snapchat. Then he comes up to Spring and we go see the new Star Wars film. He is thrown back by my constant mentions of Kylo Ren’s face, yet gets fully ridiculed when mentioning the attractiveness of any female character. During the movie, I can tell he spends more time watching me than the movie, whereas I was fully entranced by the film despite this being the second time I had seen it. We make our way back to my car, where we stand, talk, and Robert even professes his love to me. As if it wasn't obvious, I have a long history of commitment issues, therefore I don’t take well to this news and decide a knee to the stomach is the best way to accept this statement.
Without an answer to the boy’s burning question of “Will you be my girlfriend?” break is over and I leave for Denton again. This time, however, keeping in touch via FaceTime, Snapchat, and iMessage games. I begin to realize that because this is long distance, maybe it’ll be less of a commitment, ultimately I fold. However, I failed to understand that he meant what he said when he professed his love. To surprise me for Valentine's Day and prove that he means what he says, he decides to come visit me in Denton and we spend the night together watching movies, the highlight of my week, which, frankly, can be achieved by anyone if it means I get to stay off-campus.
This leaves us with our current situation. Long-distance sucks, social distancing sucks, being 50 miles away instead 300 miles away sucks. I already got used to the whole "yeah okay, maybe I'll just see you once a month" thing we had going for the past four months, but that's the reality of the situation right now.
Comentários