My First Break-Up

I was in love with New Edition. I guess that it was because they were the new Jacksons, and I loved that high-pitched little boy sound. In the 1980s I ended up dating a boy, a stranger to my school. He had transferred in from out of town. He was extremely cute with curly hair, and classic good looks. I can’t quite remember how we ended up talking to each other, but I suppose that he may have been in one of my classes or we had the same lunch period, and I finally got up the nerve to say “hello.” I was too young to date; my mother wouldn’t allow it. So, we’d meet after school at the library. Sometimes we’d meet at the library on the weekend. My mother didn’t know about these meetings, but they were all very innocent. We’d laugh and talk. He was from the northern part of Georgia, so he’d tell me about his life there. He was a foster child, and he had all sorts of stories about his family life. I was so happy when I met him; I finally had a real boyfriend. I had a date to the prom! One day he came to school and passed a note to me in the hall. He had to speak with me. We met up in the hall, and he told me that he was moving away. He was moving back north. I was devastated. I tried to hold on. We made arrangements to call each other to keep in touch. The song, Is this the End, reminded me of the relationship. I didn’t want it to be over. A few months later, however, I realized that it was over. He told me that he was dating someone else. I ran into him years later. I didn’t recognize him because he had gained about 100 more pounds. He recognized me. We exchanged number, but I never called him. That is the end.