Chapter Six: Life Was Perfect

         High school was made bearable by my new brown-haired beauty. Megan was my rock, my saving grace, my wonderful, big assed best friend. Slowly, a little at a time she chipped away at my shyness and molded me into a new person. I went from shy to slightly more outgoing. I still hid behind Megan’s silhouette whenever I could, but I had more power to stand up for myself with her there.

          Sophomore year was beautiful for three reasons. One, I was finally getting over losing Melanie. Two, I was starting to thrive in a world of writing and shopping. And Three, I was starting to fall in love with the most amazing man I would ever meet.

          Dalton wasn’t the gorgeously carved actors you see on T.V. He was quite, shy, and somehow still in love with me even after two years of nothing but b***h behavior on my end. He was too tall and too skinny, his hands were huge, and his eyes were gorgeous. They were all shades of grey and green, changing all the time. I loved them the most when they were dark gray like a storm was raging inside of them. That storm drew me in like nothing else ever would.

 I had asked him out through email because after freshman year he decided to leave our tiny school and attend a college based program instead. His response was what really melted me. I expected to be called out on my bad behavior before, but instead I got one simple sentence. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask that.”

          And he had, he’d been waiting for three years for me to come to my senses, and finally I had. Our first date was nothing special, it took a couple months and I had told my parents it was for a project. I wasn’t allowed to date until I was out of high school so hiding our relationship was the key. I went to Dalton’s house, met his parents, and spent the day watching movies with him. We were awkward and had space between us.

          Dalton was my first boyfriend, and I his first girlfriend. We didn’t know what to do for a long time. Eventually we went from awkwardly sitting next to one another to cuddling. Then our cuddles became make out sessions. It was simple, lovely, and everything I could ask for at the time. I had a boyfriend, a secret boyfriend that if my parents knew he existed I’d be strangled, but a boyfriend none the less.

          He was a dork, a nerd, and a little bit of a freak. We were awkward and strange. I was a pretty blonde with DDD’s and he was a lanky boy who spent his days on the computer. We didn’t seem to fit together, but we were happier than anyone else. We were the one high school couple that wasn’t about sex. We were about Disney movies and popcorn in his basement with his parents. We were about kissing each other for hours because we loved the way the other tasted.

          My life was just starting, and the real trouble hadn’t even begun yet. I thought I would have Megan forever, but it would be Dalton that would save me. He would rise to the occasion during a time that no one else wanted to hold my hand. It would be the boy I hated that saved my life.