My First Crush

I met Lisa in the seventh grade. Maybe I actually met her before then but I certainly didn’t take notice of her until the seventh grade. Lisa was tall and lean but not skinny. She had long, dark hair, a gentle and honest smile and eyes I could stare into all day long. I didn’t know much about sex at that time so I didn’t lust after her but I did know that she had nice legs and a cute butt.

We had classes together and would eat lunch together sometimes. I just enjoyed the fact that she allowed me to be near her so I think in those first years I followed her around like a puppy dog. She didn’t take advantage of me and make me her personal slave but I probably would have been if she’d asked.

As we moved on to high school I matured some and she became more… shapely. I was still mostly locked on those eyes, though. Even as I look back at old yearbooks those eyes always draw me in. She was the most beautiful person in the world to me.

We went to the movies a few times and had dinner once or twice. I remember taking her to the fair once and walking with her all day on the Walk for Mankind (26 miles) one year. I tried to get close to her but it never quite clicked. While we remained friends we drifted apart in our last couple of years of high school.

We ended up going to the same college. She tracked me down one day our freshman year and asked me to drop by and see her. I went to her dorm room and sat down, never taking off my bulky coat as she lounged on the bed. I think she tried to rekindle something that day or maybe she was trying to see if the pilot light was still lit. It was but I shrouded it for some reason. She took me out for pizza and we had a nice day catching up but never really got together after that. Our paths crossed now and again. She ended up dating a guy I knew and I heard she really crushed him under her heel when it was over but I don’t know for sure.

Interestingly enough, as much as I was attracted to her for so many years and as much as we were together, we never kissed.

We ran into each other a couple of years after graduation. I was married by then but she was still single, I think. We each had things we needed to be doing so we exchanged pleasantries and got quick updates on what we each were doing. We may have promised to catch up with each other later that day or to keep in touch but it never happened and I haven’t heard from her since. I sometimes wonder where I would be if I had made a move that day in college. One thing I do know is that I will always have a fondness for her and the memories of her.