A story to tell…

He’s got eyes of the bluest skies
And if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
His hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I’d hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by
    ~Sheryl Crow

Yes, yes, I know…the song is an original GnR and that’s the version I will ALWAYS love, but I’m talking about a He and not a She.

So, I’ve got a story to tell.

Once upon a time, I was 12 and in the 7th grade.  This was an awkward time for me.  I had just moved to a new state and started a new school where I knew no one.  Even though I slowly started making friends, my self-confidence was almost nonexistent.  I saw all the pretty cheerleaders around me and the "in crowd" and felt like I would never measure up to them.  Even my friends were all prettier than me.  Not to mention, I had really strict parents who didn’t understand my pre-teen phase and my need to be part of the crowd.

And then one day, I saw HIM in the hallway.  He had an olive complexion, thick black hair, and the bluest eyes I had ever seen.  There was a distinct exotic look to him; he didn’t look like the rest of the blonde haired blue eyed guys that all the other girls had crushes on.  I fell in love imediately like any 12 year old girl would do.  Not too long after, I realized that I was one of a huge group of girls that had crushes on him including my best friend and some of the other girls I was friends with, including quite a few from the "in crowd".  I knew that there was no way I would stand out in that crowd and not that it mattered because even if he did like me back, I had old fashioned Indian parents that would never let anything happen.

A few weeks went by and we learned his schedule and knew exactly where he would be during breaks.  We became a flock of giggling stalkers.  I don’t know if he noticed any of us and all any of us wanted was for him to notice just one of us.  Nothing much happened until our Honors Day came around.  That was the day the school threw a ceremony for all the honor students with good grades. Well his last name was alphabetically next to mine and both of us had curiously hard to pronounce foreign names.  So as the teacher who called each name out paused and made both of us repeat our last names until she could kinda say it, we bonded.  We talked and I learned that his last name was Middle-Eastern and that he was half that and half European (I don’t remember either of the countries now).  He learned to say my last name too and ever since the Honors Day, when ever he’d see me in the hallway, he’d yell out my last name and then smile.  *SIGH*  I was in heaven.  One day, our buses were pulling into the school at the same time.  I saw him from my window and he waved to me from his bus.  I was so happy that he waved to me!  His bus pulled in first and by the time I got out of the bus discussing with my best friend about how he waved to me, I see him waiting for me.  He said hi and walked with us to the gym while he chatted.  Joyce who was kinda part of the "in crowd" who I was kinda friends with because we had chorus together and she was friends with my best friend became jealous when in chorus class some of the other girls mentioned that he would talk to me whenever he saw me in the hallway.  She punched me in the arm…in a joking way I’m sure, but it hurt…and said, "I can’t believe he talks to you" like I was not good enough.  But I didn’t care.  We still stalked him and then one day we realized we never saw him before school started and we started wondering where he went.  Well, knowing he was a smart guy, I figured he may be in the library so we went one morning and lo and behold, there he was.  I bet he hid out there to get away from all the girls who were always following him around.  One of the girls we were with, decided to go to him and tell him that my best friend like him.  He said he was flattered and then nodded toward me before walking out.  He didn’t seem interested in anyone and I was too scared to ever let him know that I liked him too.

Then the last day of school came.  We had a big year book signing party in the gym at the end of the day.  I saw him from across the room, but ever since that day in the library, I noticed that I never ran into him in the hall ways any more and the few times I did, he wouldn’t really say anything anymore, but just kinda look and nod hi.  Well my friend Aimee decided that he needed to know that I liked him.  She took her yearbook over to him to sign, even though he had no idea who she was and while he signed it, she told him that I liked him.  I saw him look up from across the room and our eyes met.  My face turned ten shades of red and I looked away.  Next thing I knew, the bell rang and the year was over.  He was no longer a middle school student and would be starting highschool the next year.  I knew nothing more was ever going to happen because I’d never see him again.  I went around saying bye to my friends and realized I was running late for the bus and began to run towards it.  All of a sudden, I hear someone yell out my last name from behind.  I turn around and there he is, still looking as cute as ever!  He tells me to have a good summer and that he would see me when I got to high school before giving me a hug.  I think I floated to the bus after that.

I never did see him when I got to high school.  I guess he moved away before that.  I never again really thought about him.  Then today, for some odd reason, he came to mind.  First I decided to google him and found a site with his art.    He is a part of a company that does a lot of digital art and other artsy stuff for companies.  He even has a book publish with his partners.  Still, I couldn’t find a picture of him anywhere.  I assumed the info I found was about him considering he had quite the unusual name and I doubted that there was anyone else with that exact name, spelled that way that lived in GA.  Then I remembered my best friend’s technique…and I checked Friendster for him.  There he was.  But I didn’t believe it because the pictures looked nothing like him and

I started doubting that it was the same guy until I came to the last picture where I could see his eyes and I knew it was him.  In middle school, he was the preppy jock type guy and oh so good looking.  He’s still cute now, but doesn’t have that typical good looking guy look to him anymore.  He looks like the artsy type with glasses and plaid shirts.  He sounds educated and intelligent and artsy.

I just thought it was funny that with today’s technology, I could find someone I hadn’t seen or thought about in 17 years.