On Tuesday I started telling you the story about my first engagement. I was limited to only 400 words so I did the best I could to squeeze it all in but really glossed over the juicy bits. Every comment asked for more of the story. 

And I’m a genie in a bottle baby.

I’m a 15 year old girl packing up the rented Pontiac Aztec like I told you in an earlier post & headed up to the mountain’s of Virginia to a little place called Rocky Mount Virgina. It was a small town with a corner store, a Walmart, Apple-Bees & a Sheetz. The main attraction was the towns locale church & Bible school. 

Upon arriving at Rocky Mount you make your way down a long road that drives you pass almost every church members home. When you reach the end of this road you check your heavy Christian rock music at the gate & enter a world of deer jerky & prayer services. The school was nicknamed many things but for the purpose of my story I will only tell you two.

The Bubble & Bridal School.

The running joke was that you didn’t leave the school ever or you didn’t leave the school without a ring on your finger. And just thinking about my class alone. It’s truth.

A few people back at my home church were concerned that I {and my BFF} had decided to attend. They said the rules were ridiculous, it was like prison & I would never last {they could get a job at the Psychic Friends Network that’s how accurate they were}. I wasn’t concerned. My theory was if I keep my head down & did what they said I should have no problem. And as for Bridal School? Puh-lease I was “dating” the youth Pastors kid. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. 

I arrive at school in August & instantly fall in love. The first 3 months were amazing. My BFF & I met another kindred spirit & we were Frick, Frack, & Fruck. Inseparable. Gangsters for Life. The ART Club.

The bliss was short lived.

On my 16th birthday {see this FAQ for why I was at school at 16} I was working in the kitchen after lunch {which was one of my duties} & one of my male classmates walked into the kitchen & gave me a card. When I opened it I saw the Tasmanian Devil on the front with a beating heart saying something about being crazy for you. My heart literally stopped because I thought it was from the boy in front of me & I was not happy about that. I really, really liked him but only as a friend. I thought {and still think} he was one of the nicest most genuine people there. 

I looked up at him “Um, what is this?”, “Just open it” he urged me. So I did.

I didn’t even spend time reading whatever the “Devil” wanted to tell me. I immediately focused my eyes on the name scrawled at the bottom. “Ralph”.

My heart. In throat.

For the last few weeks I had been hearing rumors that I had a secret admirer. I instantly knew it was him because all the Tupac worshipping boys always seemed to be attracted to me. But at this stage in my life I was strictly Avril Lavigne. Jared&Jared.  I had heard that he moved from sitting behind me in class because my hair was too distracting. I remember hearing him mumble to me a few times about how good he thought I smelled. I was also told that the lust buster he wore around his wrist was for me.  And now here in front of me was confirmation & I knew it would not turn out good. 

I shoved the card back in its yellow envelope, grabbed my jacket & ran back to my dorm room. 

That evening our dorm monitor made her way to my room & said she needed to speak with me.

“Is this about the card?” I asked her.

“It is” 

“You don’t need to worry. I have no interest in him AT ALL. AND I have someone back home.”

All of which was true.

I was not {and never was} physically attracted to him or emotionally. To me it was just another guy who had fallen for me {and my big boobs}. But even more than that, if I started a relationship with him I would be breaking the most important rule. No dating in first year. I had no intention of doing that. I was a good girl, always had been. I liked, no LOVED school. I had friends, people liked me, I was learning a lot & doing well. I did NOT want to mess it up.

I didn’t. 

So how did I go from that to a tiny diamond engagement ring? 

Just wait & see.

 Programming Note: There is a new comment system installed called Livefyre. I used it the other day on one of the Duggar bashin’ blogs & really like it. It has the ability to tag like Twitter & FB & emails you instantly upon a new reply. Apparently though this feature & my readiness to use it made me seem over zealous & enthusiastic & not in the good way. I just thought I was doing what I was supposed to, which was to carry on a discussion, isn’t that what comments are for?  So talk amongst yourselves & let me know what you think of it. And look over at Facebook, I need some help. 

Update- Livefyre is not working-

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Before I was a mother, Bible School Drop Out, True story narratives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.