John told me Keith was a head master of mathematics at a boarding school in the tri-state area.
Does not surprise me in the least. Keith is John Nash from a Beautiful Mind but without the schizophrenia. (Well he wasn't in high school)
Keith, you see was my only boyfriend in high school. He was my first boyfriend. I went through all of my years of school without going steady, then senior year happened.
Everything changed. My braces came off, I stopped perming my hair (egads can you imagine-that's not very punk of me-but it was the 80's).
One day one of my very brainac friends (she's an accountant now) tells me...
"You know Kieth?"
Me: "um...Y..E..S-our valedictorian....?
Friend: "He kind of likes you."
I had one of those moments where the background blurred and started spinning around me, and Pretty in Pink started playing in my head.
Somebody liked me. How cool is that. And bless my friend for saying, "Leave it to Patti to get the smartest guy in school to bring his head out of a book". I love her for saying that to me.
Of course it could mean I'm Melanie Griffith to his Jeff Daniel like in Something Wild. I won't think about that.
Then the set-up occurred. High school football game, and after meeting up at the BK lounge.
I'm guessing we talked and I gave him my number. It was awkward and sweet. So endearingly innocent.
Oh yes and the really awesome thing...he drove an orange gremlin. I thought it was cool at the time and I still do.
We had lots of dates and had fun. Except he kept trying to get me to take physics and me, being the stubborn artist refused. I know this drove him crazy. The other night I tried to think what classes he even took. In senior year most of us were taking trigonometry and analytic geometry, what was he taking? It must of been an AP class of calculus.??
Then I don't know what happened. We went to Disney and we were eating at a restaurant and a waiter asked of we were on our honeymoon.
That's when the music stopped-needle on the record player being pushed aside., scratching the record...
I remember being appalled, not with him just the idea of being married. There was NO WAY I was ever going to be married.
How pathetically sad of me.
This is God's mind, "Oh, you're getting along so nicely with a young man, and now we're going to make you dislike him for something a stranger said."
There was never even any mention of anything of the sort. Some of my friends were getting promise rings. I just lost my mind. And this my dear friends is how I started my rocky path of being non-confrontational and never telling anyone what is wrong. We just stopped talking. How horrible. And I will live with that forever.
So Keith-I'm sorry for being such a messed up girl, and I couldn't have had a sweeter first boyfriend.
11 comments:
Ooowww, PG -- what a story! So sad yet so sweet...young love, eh? :-)
I wonder if Keith will ever read your words here in CyberSpace...imagine that!
I do dig that car like TOTALLY!!
As for the film references: haven't got a clue so I shall leave it up to Alan to comment (he's the film expert).
"the tri-state area" --> please define.
Oh. My. I think that is me now. I SO dont think I would get married again. The thought entirely freaks me out. But perhaps I would just say it outright if I felt the need "I am not saying I am totally closed to it, but the idea of getting married again freaks me out".
I love that car.
I loved reading this story - I have a very similar story with the dude that was in Vanity Fair, remember him?
I would have liked to have a boyfriend with an orange Gremlin.
I am taking the Fifth on the perm issue.
I found a huge A2 promo poster for Pretty In Pink in a local charity shop a few months ago...that was a blast from the past!
I was certain Lilly had seen Pretty In Pink.
Okay, I have to remedy that one.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut make up the tri-state area. Basically, the inhabited bits within commuter distance of Manhattan.
...and you may well note the lack of comment on the 'marriage thing' too....
...ah, a Gremlin is like an American version of a Datsun Cherry....
oh thanks Alan for the answers-sorry Lilly-just ask your boyfriend.:)
Lilly-it is very bittersweet isn't it. Wait you haven't seen Pretty in Pink or Something Wild?
stepping-That's the way I was exactly. If you and the clam man...wedding project..just throwing that out there.
kristen-Oh yeah-the green issue,when I thought you dated George Clooney!!!
The gremlin was a signature car for him.
alan-a perm?????
You need to update Lilly and her filmography.
And thank you Alan!
I have seen Pretty in Pink (it's one of the few films I've seen) however, I cannot remember films! It is true. I can watch a film over and over and still get the same shock/surprise/thrill out of it because I can never remember the twist or who the bad arse is or how it ends. It's strange...and perhaps also a bit worrying considering my age! But I am good with numbers.
..I have never artificially curled my hair...what I meant is that perms freak me out so much that I cannot discuss them without becoming enraged...and I wouldn't want to offend anybody or incriminate myself..........
I loved your story even though the ending was sad. Is that the actual Gremlin, or did you get just get lucky in finding a picture of an orange Gremlin?
lilly-I'm glad you've seen it. I can't remember how it ends now either.
alan-oh I understand completely. the thought of them. and all the time wasted. and the chemicals.
jc-It is sad isn't it. I never had the foresight to take a picture of the car.
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