The Beginning, Part Deux

If you missed the first installment, click here before you continue.

So where did we leave off?
Oh yes, I was happy with my friendship with Josh until I noticed that he was pretty darn cute and he had started dating someone. We will call her Gertrude.
No, that wasn't her name. Her real name was cute and perky and cheerleader-ish, so naturally I prefer Gertrude.

Their relationship was a bit of a roller coaster, so I bided my time kissed a lot of other guys while I waited for it to run it's course. And then it did.
Josh had bought two tickets for himself and Gertrude to the Military Ball just before Christmas break our sophomore year. But they broke up before the ball, so he asked me to go along with him. I tried to be nonchalant to him about our "friend" date, but inside I was excited.

(Total side note: My roommates had offered to do my hair and makeup for me before the ball, but while they were helping me, they erupted into the BIGGEST.FIGHT.EVAH. and I was left with this frizzy up-do that was not my best look. The fight started over how Nicole held her mascara wand, but I think the real reason was that 3 teenage girls were living in the equivalent of a large prison cell. Love you Dana & Nicole!)

So we headed to the ball, and had a decent time. But there was a decided lack of flirtation on Josh's part. It is common practice that after the ball was over, our group of friends would go out together for some less-formal fun. Josh excused himself to go to the LIBRARY and do some STUDYING.

How rude.
Obviously my feelings were unrequited. I disappointedly walked back to my dorm to defriz my hair and take off my most hideous Air Force black heels. Looking back on it, I can't blame him for not falling madly in love with me, those service dress/skirt combos were about the most masculine looking outfits they could force us to wear.

But maybe I could blame him just a little, because, and let me emphasize:

HE WAS NOT GOING TO THE LIBRARY. HE HAD GOTTEN BACK TOGETHER WITH GERTRUDE AFTER HE HAD ALREADY ASKED ME TO THE BALL.

I was nothing but a pathetic courtesy date. He felt bad retracting his offer.
Can you believe I still bore him children?

Luckily, Christmas break had arrived and going home for a while helped me forget my hurt feelings and move on. I returned to campus satisfied with just a friendship.
And friends we were. We always had good converation, and came to realize that we had a lot more in common that either of us had thought.

One thing we learned: If you are not 100% sure that the platonic friend you are conversing with will not one day be your spouse, it is better to skip discussions of current love interests. They may come back to bite you.

So we finished our sophomore year as "mostly" friends. There had been one occasion when we had kissed at a party during an off-again part of Josh and Gertrude's relationship. However, it was a casual thing that we didn't take seriously.

(As a mom, I can tell you now that the ease with which I locked lips with these guys was far too casual, and  Alex will certainly be much more discriminating.
Right? Please?)

So we left for our respective homes for the summer. This was the summer that we had to spend 4 weeks in Texas for our ROTC field training. Josh and I were in the same camp and were able to chat a bit during the "survival" portion of camp. Also known as the only portion of camp where mean people weren't breathing down our necks yelling about one thing or the other. Remind me one day and I'll tell you more about this experience, things like the 8-minute meals while sitting at attention. The things I did for a free ride to school! You know, the same education that I currently don't use. 

During our time together I learned that he and Gertrude had broken up "for good" and he was spending the summer impressing high school girls with his new motorcycle. The same motorcycle that now resides in our garage in Idaho.

I was excited to head back to campus for junior year, sure that this would be our year. I was right!

 Part Trois will have to wait, because the kids want to eat breakfast. Darn kids and their needs. Next thing you know they'll be demanding clothing and shelter too.