Somnimiles wrote:How about the worst date I never had?
The first time I ever tried to ask a girl out, I was sixteen and at a summer youth christian camp (my parents made me go). There was a girl there from our group named Bridget, one of a pair of twins, and I'd developed a crush on her. Towards the end of the week, they were having this big hawaiian luau party (who knows why a luau), and the kids were paring off, asking each other out to this party.
So I decided to ask Bridget out, and mustered up my courage while she and some other girls were playing volleyball. As I started walking toward her, I began getting more and more nervous, and then lightheaded. As I finally got just a few feet away from her, the world went black and I passed out. "Thump!", to the ground.
I woke up laying on the ground, staring up at a dozen pretty girls all standing over me looking worried, and feeling like the biggest idiot on Earth.
Sadly, I didn't have the courage to try again.
This church camp didn't happen to be in Oklahoma, did it? If so, I might have been there!
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WARNING! Wall of text.
Anyway, I've only been on one date...
So this girl liked me. I was sitting inside one day during Youth Group (less of a Youth Group for church and more of a "hey, the church is open... let's all us crazy teens go hang out there on Wednesdays!") drawing some pictures, and this girl comes inside for the sole purpose of sitting next to me. That in and of itself should have been a fairly obvious indicator of what was going on, but I didn't pick up on it.
Anyway, I realized she was asking me out to this dance thing supposedly going on at the school after Homecoming football game. So naturally I said I couldn't make it, then doubled back on myself and decided to go. Unfortunately my sister was sitting right next to me the whole time... Here's the bad part.
This girl was half-black, and my sister realized what was going on. My family happens to be quite racist. The girl was also a little overweight, though I must say she didn't look at all lumpy or ugly. Quite the opposite, in fact. So on the way home, my sister blurts out that a half-black girl likes me and wants to go out with me... my dad proceeded to read me the riot act, and I quietly decided not to go to the dance thing.
Next day, it was Homecoming. Somewhat depressed, and having avoided the girl for most of the day despite her coming up to and talking to me (very nice of her), I just decided to take the bus home and not go. Well, halfway home I have an epiphany. This is the only girl I've ever had a chance with! Hell itself can't stop me now, I gotta go!
And so I jumped off the bus and sprinted five miles back to town, following dirt roads and railroad tracks. Being what you might call a "hopeless romantic" I was thinking what a great story this would be to tell my kids if I ever had any (and hey, it still would be), and that the run was so totally worth it. I was stoked. And I managed to make it to the small town's main street before the parade could cut me off! So I crossed the road and set off down the length of the parade looking for the girl.
Naturally, she was on the other side of the road.
So I looped around behind the parade and came up to the girl, who happened to be with some of my friends (and hers). Hey, I say, still want to go to that dance? Because screw my dad, I'll go!
Well, I stayed at a friend's house after the parade until it was time to go the football game, at which point I ran across town in the dark and made it in time to find the girl and her friends about to leave for the dance. Now the rest is stupid details, and I've got the whole setup out of the way for the punchline, so let me just sum it up for you.
Hey look, there is no dance. Damn rumors. But hey, the church is having a party! With pizza! Oh wait, my dad's there.
Hey, yeah, now's probably the best time to break the news that my family is racist. Wanna go anyway? Come on, we'll figure something out. No? Ok, well... fuuuuuuuu...
In the long run, I did get my one and only intimate hug ever. Baby-steps.
Oh yeah, but then I got home and the shit hit the fan. Hoooo-raaaaaay...