Act II

Since I had abstained from any boy-craziness over the past year and since I had absolutely no idea who Red Head was, I thought it best to be cautious and slow. Aka- don't throw myself at him. If anything was ever going to happen, if we were ever going to meet, I wanted him to be the one to make the first move. I did not want to meet him under the pretense of my own longings, but because he wanted to meet me as well. So, I devised a plan. If he was going to sit on the front row, then I would commit social suicide and do the same, risking being seen as a nerd. But hey, I thought he was worth it. I wouldn't make the first move for him but I would put myself in close enough proximity for him to notice and talk to me. I thought my plan was genius. So, the next class period, I sat about four seats down from where he sat the previous class. And, just like clockwork, he came in, sat down in the same seat, and immediately took my breath away. I was amazed at how his presence could do that. Just sitting five feet from him got my heart beating like I was on a roller coaster. And you know what? It was just fun. 

It turns out that sitting in such close proximity to such a hunk didn't do much for my attention span. The geek inside of me wanted so much to pay attention to the awesome lecture we had the privilege of sitting under. I wanted to listen, wanted to soak in all I could to learn this interesting subject (and effectively make an A in the class) but how could I focus on a Supreme Court ruling when the most gorgeous creature in the world sat only a few feet from me? I was pitiful. During the entire lecture, I spent my time staring at his shoes, his backpack, and occasionally I would build up enough courage to sneak a quick peek at his face, which would then turn my own face into a flaming red ball of embarrassment. 

I had it bad. 

Luckily, for the sake of my GPA, Red Head started skipping class. He would come every now and then, make me miss an entire lecture, and then walk out like he hadn't just sent a tornado of emotions right through the small, unsuspecting town of my heart. As the semester wore on, he started coming to class less and less. And eventually, I stopped missing him when he didn't make it to class. I stopped thinking about him on my long drives home. And then, it was like I completely forgot all about him... until the end of the semester, when he decided it was time to come back to class. 

I still remember the day he came back. He walked in with those same light colored jeans, a polo shirt, and the same leather shoes on. As he walked in, I looked up, caught a glance, and suddenly, all the weeks of wishing came back with a vengeance. Just seeing him was enough to reduce me to a puddle. I was a sad little puppy dog...

I sat in the same hard, uncomfortable theater-style chair that I had been in the entire semester. I tried diligently to read through some of the court cases we had been going through. That didn't work. I couldn't hold my attention on anything except the fact that Red Head, that gorgeous creature, was now sitting mere feet away from me again. And then, in the heat of desperation, I made my first attempt to find out anything I could about this boy. 

The professor called the roll. Name after name, I sat in expectation. Waiting. He went through the As, the Bs, the Cs, then to my name in the Ds. Name after name and Red Head never flinched. Never moved. Was he not on the roll? What was the problem? Did I miss him saying, "Here!" ?? And then- a breakthrough. At last! The Ws. The teacher called a final name and Red Head quietly said the first word I ever heard come out of his mouth, "Here!" This may sound pitiful, but if you have ever been in love, you will surely understand. Hearing that one little word pour forth from his lips was like music to my ears. His voice was deep, soft, full of base, and just so smooth. It was music music music. And, finally, I knew his name. And it was the most perfect name I'd ever heard. The kind of name I wanted to pass down to my children. He needed a Junior to be named after him, the name was just too perfect to leave in the past. It rang like music in my ears. And you know what is funny? His first name was the exact same name of the perfect man I always dreamed of marrying in my head. It was my favorite boy name. And this was just too good to be true. 

That day, after two more classes, I went home and straight the computer, pulling up facebook as fast as my DSL would allow. It wasn't fast enough. I was frantic. I needed to know who this person was. I would look him up, probably see that he had a girlfriend or that he was a frat boy or some crazy party guy. But really, I knew he wasn't. If my intuition were right, I would find out that he was even more perfect that I had already made him up in my mind. I was right. 

Yes, I stalked Red Head on facebook. I found his page, skimmed through the About Me section and found a man who was in love with the Lord in a real and beautiful way. His music and movie choices were slightly different than mine, but were more than acceptable. And even better? We had a lot of mutual friends. A lot. So I wondered, how did I not already know this boy? How had I never met him before? I was a little ticked at my friends for never bringing Red Head around for me to meet. But, alas, I knew his name, and blessing beyond blessing- he was single and loved the Lord! At this point, the story was over for me. I needed him to marry me. But wait, I wanted to be single, didn't I? What about all my plans to be a single woman on the mission field? Just like always, the plans that I gave the Lord for my life weren't the same that He had in mind for me. And thus, my plans and ideas unraveled more and more every time I saw and thought about Red Head. 

The next class period, I sat in my usual seat and in walked Red Head, picking the seat just three down from me. I think I remember sweat pouring out of me at maximum speeds. I was nervous beyond words. He was so close. And me, the little puppy dog- I was becoming a nervous pool of sweat. It was bad. And then..... life changed.... again. 

I was doing all I could to read through the Constitutional Amendments in an attempt to keep my eyes from wandering over to Red Head. Hey, I didn't want him to know that I was facebook stalking him, and lets face it, totally entranced by him. I didn't want to scare him away! And by all means, I didn't want him to see the drool inexplicably dribbling down my mouth when I caught a glimpse of his face. Oh, I was a goner! 

So, I sat there, pretending to be reading some amendment, and then I heard it- his voice. That sweet music to my ears. I let the deep soulful voice wash over me, practically bathing in how beautiful it was, until fear struck me. Wait! Who was he talking to? Oh no, was he talking to ME?!?! I looked over at him, and yep, he was talking to me. Oh no! Had he seen my ridiculous face when he first spoke to me? Did he see the drool? Did facebook tell him that I had stalked his page? Wait, what did he say?

He had asked me about the impending test. Had I started studying for it yet? Its funny how I can remember so many things about our first meeting, but I have no idea what I said to his question. All I remember is that I was so tongue-tied that I couldn't even make words come out for a few horrifying moments. He had made me speechless. And if you know me personally, you'll that that was a first for me. I'm never speechless. I always have too many things to say! 

He spoke to me. And I answered something back. I mumbled. I tripped over my words. It was sad. But he had spoken to me. He knew I existed! We said nothing to one another after that. Silence filled the air. But my heart lept with joy. I had talked to Red Head. I was giddy. And then I went home and did something ridiculous. I "friended" him on facebook. The only problem? We had never introduced ourselves to one another in the few words we had exchanged. I wasn't supposed to know his name...oops! 

To be continued...