Me & My Man - Part 4

The whole afternoon I kept an eye out for the one person I was really hoping would come - Mr. Wonderful. Hour 1 of the party past, and no sign. Hour 2 on the clock ticked by, and still no Mr. Wonderful. I started coming up with all different scenarios in my head for why he wouldn't come:

Maybe he has family plans, or

Perhaps he has a lot of other graduation parties to go to today, or

Maybe he didn't want to come. Maybe he didn't have the same feelings for me. I guess I had my shot last fall and it was really over...

Part 4: Magic in Aggieland

The graduation party continued on that afternoon, and although it appeared that Mr. Wonderful was going to be a no show, I put a smile on my face and enjoyed my time with my other guests. About 45 minutes before the party was to wrap up, I looked up and walking through the door was Mr. Wonderful! I cannot tell you how my heart leaped in my chest at this sight.

He made his way over to me and greeted me with a hug. (Man, did he smell good!) We congratulated each other, and he handed me a gift. I opened the wrapping and found an address book, stationary, and notecards. I knew immediately that his mom had probably picked this out (there is no way that Mr. Wonderful would have come up with this idea!), but it was sweet to me all the same. Since Mr. Wonderful arrived near the end of the party, there were fewer guests and it allowed us to talk with one another with less distractions. At the conclusion of the party, he helped me pack up my decorations and gifts and carry them to the car. We said our goodbyes and talked about how we would spend some time together over the summer.

That night I couldn't get Mr. Wonderful out of my mind. There was just something about him that I was so drawn to. My feelings were so strong, and I began to realize that I wanted more than just a friendship with him. I knew that I had to say something. I was the one to initiate the brakes on our relationship last fall, and I knew that he had big orange warning cones around himself when it came to a relationship with me.

The next day was Sunday. After my family and I got home from church that morning, I decided to call Mr. Wonderful. I asked him if I could come over and borrow him for a little while that afternoon. He was open to it and told me to come over right away because they were having a big family meal later that day.

Once I picked him up we went over to a nearby park and sat at a picnic table. I was so nervous that the night before I had written out an outline of what I wanted to say to him. (I know, I'm a total dork!) I didn't bring the outline with me that afternoon, but I was prepared. I told him that I thought he was a great guy, and that I would not be ok not having him in my life. That I wanted to work on our friendship, and that I was open to see where that took us.

He was very receptive to what I was saying, and told me how much he had missed our friendship in the past several months. He did say, though, that he did not want to go away to college with a girlfriend. He agreed that we should be more intentional about hanging out over the summer.

I was already feeling awfully bold that day, so I decided to throw out there that my family and I were taking my grandparents up to College Station the next day to show them where I would be going to school. I knew that his grandparents were still in town and asked him if his family would like to join us. When we returned to his house from the park, we asked his mom, and she agreed that the trip sounded like a great idea. We made plans for my family to come by their house the next day to carpool.

The next morning I was so excited. We drove to Aggieland with Mr. Wonderful and his family, and had a great time on the drive up. Mr. Wonderful was riding in the same car with me and some of my family. On the ride up we began explaining some of the Aggie traditions to my grandma. We told her how when the Aggies' score a touchdown at the football games that the Aggie fans kiss their dates. The idea is that if the Aggies score, so does everyone else. Her eyes got real big, and she turned in her seat to look at me and asks, "What do you all do if the Aggies win?" We all burst into laughter - so funny!

We had a wonderful time in Aggieland that day. We toured the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and we walked around the campus to see the Memorial Student Center, Kyle Field, and the Rec Center. Mr. Wonderful and I were like two kids - we picked on each other all day, laughed and had a great time.

That evening we pulled into Mr. Wonderful's driveway and our families said their goodbyes. Mr. Wonderful leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Hey, I don't want you to go. Do you want to go to a movie?" Oh, be still my heart.

Mr. Wonderful and I looked up movie times and he asked if I wanted to go see the new Star Wars movie. In my head I was thinking, "No! I hate sci-fi movies like that. That's my last choice." But what I said to him was, "Yes. That sounds perfect!" The things we do for love!

We walked out to the driveway and climbed into Mr. Wonderful's big Bronco. Like a lot of high school boys he had a trunk filled with large speakers, and as soon as he turned the ignition, my butt started vibrating from all the base. It was quite ridiculous, but I didn't care. I was going to the movies with Mr. Wonderful!

We pulled out of his driveway and headed to the movie theater. We talked as he drove, and we laughed a lot. We pulled up to a red light, and all of a sudden out of nowhere Mr. Wonderful leans over the center console and kisses me. It was a good kiss, sweet and gentle on my lips. I looked up at him in shock and said, "Whatever happened to the whole 'I don't want to go to college with a girlfriend' thing?"...