Writing

The writing prompt for Write Anyway is from “The Writing Fix – Prompt Generator”. The objective is to take the topic and write for at least 20 minutes. What did you come up with? My response is below:

“What made them so interesting? Remember a unique classmate from your past. Write about him/her.”

I grew up in a very small town and graduated from a high school that – the year I graduated – was declining in enrollment (my class had 123 graduates – I don’t think there has been a bigger class in the last 10+years). The town and high school were small enough that any “new arrivals” of families and students was a big deal.

Fresh blood, if you get me.

The year I was a junior, a new student arrived. He was stunning. Tall, athletic build. Chiseled features. Glossy raven-black hair. Dark skin. Chocolate-brown eyes. The first day of school, he looked like he stepped off the cover of GQ magazine. (My lands, did they KNOW to but Jake on the cover?) Add those qualities to an intelligent mind with an artistic flair and most of the girls in the high school were ready to dump their boyfriend (even if he was the starting quarterback) just to go to the Homecoming dance on his arm.

The term “man-candy” was invented with this guy in mind.

He played football. He wrote poetry. He mixed well with the gear-heads and the jocks (which was rare). He was a talented artist (charcoal was his favorite medium). He had a true heart and was loyal to his girlfriend ‘back home’ and no matter how pretty the girl was who mistakenly thought she could tempt him away from her; he was steadfast in his faithfulness to his girlfriend.

I had a terrible crush on him.

The first few months of school that year I watched several of my classmates make complete idiots of themselves trying to date him.

In English literature class, the teacher paired us up (to this day I don’t know why she did that) to read and analyze “The Tell-Tale Heart.” He was even more handsome close up, and though I knew he was unavailable, my heart would skip beats every time he would look me in the eyes. I felt like he was staring deep into my soul and seeing me – the real me. That sounds corny and trite, but at the time, no boy had ever looked at me in a way that made me feel more feminine, smart, sexy, and confident. He did, somehow, and I liked the way it made me feel.

We became friends. We were not close friends, but when we had classes together, we conspired to work together on projects. In art classes, we tried to sit next to each other so we could bounce ideas off each other. When the PE classes went co-ed, we finagled to get on the same team or be partners.

I had made a new friend who set the standard for any man I dated after getting to know him. (This friend from high school is probably is the reason I eventually married the man I did.) And I think he sought me out because I was not out to break up his relationship with his sweetheart back home.

After graduation, I lost track of him. Every now and then, I wonder what happened to him. In my heart, I hope he went home to his girlfriend, became an artist, and raised sons to be just like him.

I miss him.