The Dance: Part One

So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.  Galatians 6:9

    It would be a lie, and a silly one, to say that after having received one email everything from then on was "happily ever after". Truth be told that email, as it should, sparked the beginning of a friendship. It lead to brief conversations at church, excessive AOL Instant Messaging, mix CD's and awkwardly having a friend ask him to a school formal, four months in advance (to which he agreed!).
    Casting aside the awkwardness of so early a proposed formal outing, we continued to grow closer as friends. It wasn't until crashing one of his friends birthday parties and seeing him interact with another girl (almost all night), that my purely optimistic outlook was altered. As much as my hopes of a relationship thriving far beyond friendship where true, I hadn't, until that day, considered that maybe he didn't feel the same. Nevertheless, I continued to talk to him on the phone, via AIM and any chance I could. When he later called me to tell me that he was dating the aforementioned girl, it came as no surprise to me and, though heart broken, I was determined not to lose the friendship I had grown to care about.
    The ensuing months included a reluctance to stop talking to him while dealing with a new found understanding of the term "crush". I began a blog of poems dedicated solely to my angst-y teenage heartbreak and sneakily (or not so sneakily as I'm sure he knew the whole time) sent a link to him so he could read it too. The dance was still on, and he, being always honest and fair, ensured me he would not back out on something that he had already agreed to do. So we went.

I feel it necessary to interject here with a picture from that night.

I just wanna note on this picture that it looks like we have
been shot through the head with arrows. I like to think Cupid
got to us before we realized it. ;)

    It was with that joyous and excited look that the evening began. After spending hours getting ready, and trying desperately to steady my nerves, we were finally going. It turned out, for the most part, just a typical formal dance amongst a group of friends, but I couldn't have been happier. Shortly before it ended there was a slow dance and the moment I had been hoping for all night had finally come. I still remember the song (I know he does too), "My Immortal" by Evanescence. I cannot even begin to describe the roller coaster of feelings that I had during that dance, with the thought of his current girlfriend still in the back of my mind, I couldn't deny that the feelings I had for him were growing and that, so far, this was the best night of my life.
    There was no kiss that night, no hand holding, no confession of affection, just some good ol' fashion fun with friends. But it was a night I wouldn't soon forget, and when, months later, he and said girlfriend did break up, I was right there waiting. It wasn't long before he invited me to one of his formal dances, and I gladly accepted.