About a boy.

Middle school was a tough time in my life. More tough than you can imagine. But that’s not really what this is about. This is about a boy. I was always the odd girl out, the girl who was poor, always wore her hair in a pony tail, no makeup, chubby and did not at all fit in amongst the girls at my Catholic school for various reasons. So, you’d imagine my surprise when one of the popular kids started talking to me online. We started iming each other, and I can’t remember how now, but the point is that we talked. He dated the popular girl, the smart one who liked to pretend she was angelic, but they broke up. He would talk about her and I would listen. I was the friend, but that was okay, because I wanted friends. We’d talk about New Found Glory because we both liked that band, and school, and everything. One day he said, “Why don’t you ever say hi to me in school?” I told him that I was shy, and I had always wanted to but was nervous. He said that I should, and I told him that he should first. So one day, during the last few days of school, we went out to play sports in the field after our exams. I was sitting on the bleachers, alone, and a group of girls sat next to me. His ex girlfriend was one of those girls. They didn’t care that I was sitting there alone. They didn’t pick on me right then, but they didn’t care. I saw the boy running towards the bleachers with a football in his arms, getting ready to play with the guys. I assumed he was running past, or maybe he’d want to talk to that girl. Then he yelled my name, loudly. I looked up and he was waving, and yelled “HI!!!!” I smiled as wide as I could, and waved back and yelled, “HI!!” He smiled and ran to the guys, and I turned my head to see the entire group of girls just staring at me. Giving me that look. Not only the look of shock, but the look of, “Her? Really?” It was the slight revenge and the “What now?” slap in the face that I always wanted to give them. I thanked that boy in my head and forever wrote him off as one of the nicest guys I knew. I saw him at Panera the other day, and he stared at me as if he was trying to make out who I was, but couldn’t quite get it. He’s different now. Completely country, republican, voting for Ron Paul, and although not so different, a football player and a wrestler. He still has the same red cheeks, but I don’t know him or what he likes anymore. Not that any of what I said about him should be categorized as bad, but we are different. I don’t know what he thinks of gay marriage. I don’t know if he still likes New Found Glory. I do know that no matter what, deep down, he is a good person. People are more than their stance on politics, than their taste in music, than their favorite sports team. So even though we’re different and he couldn’t quite figure out who I was at a glance, he may have been the highlight of my middle school years, and I will always remember him.