My boyfriend and I met in High School. Almost every time I say this, I am met with negativity and doubts. Common opinions that I have never asked for consist of “You aren’t going to last”, and “There’s no way you can know you’re in love that young”. I’m not here to fight those comments. They are opinions, and frankly, I don’t have time for them.
However, I do want to talk about my relationship. When I sat down to write today, my intention was to touch on having hard days, but instead, the only thing I could think about was how Blaine and I met. Now, I’m not sure if that’s because I’m sitting in our apartment together, surrounded by a combination of our things, or if I just miss him, having not seen him in over two weeks. But whatever the reason, I decided to take this opportunity to reflect.
Blaine and I met in a High School physics class. Being a socially awkward teen who also had a distinct dislike for most people my own age and their drama, I often chose to sit as far away from my classmates as possible. In physics, this meant the table closest to the teacher. For several classes, this worked well. I was able to do my work in peace, only having to hear the distant babbling about whatever trivial matter my classmates were angry about that day.
That was until Blaine sat down next to me. I don’t remember exactly why he moved seats. If by choice, or by partnered assignment, but whatever the reason, my initial response was annoyance. How dare this guy dare intrude on my perfect order? I come to class, I answer a few questions, avoid all contact with other teenagers, and I go home. Over the next couple of days though, my attitude quickly shifted. I began to look forward to the forty five minutes in which Blaine and I would pretend to be talking physics, instead quietly getting to know each other.
Soon, we were meeting outside of school. We would go to the movies where I would say I didn’t want any popcorn and then proceed to eat all of his. This resulted in the tradition of one large popcorn and one large drink to share. We would go for walks and just talk about everything from big world problems to trivial matters.
I could write a whole post on when I knew I loved him. I could devote pages to the tiny moments in which I am reminded of the many reasons he is my one and only. However, those are stories for another day.
To this day, we joke that we owe our whole relationship to a piece of gum. It became ritual that at the beginning of every class period, I would ask him for a piece of gum. He always seemed to have a pack patiently waiting in his bag, an endless supply. Whether I have gum or the universe to thank for putting us together, I thank both.
However many years ago, as a teenager struggling to figure out who I was as a person, I never would have imagined that as a 21 year old, I would be living four hours from home with the love of my life. I never would have thought that I would meet that man at my least favorite place – school. I never would have thought that we would be celebrating three years together, and looking at many more amazing years and memories to come.
Blaine and I in ways are polar opposites. He loves playing video games and building model tanks, while I love reading and writing. He is obsessed with history, while English is more my forte. He’s slightly more outgoing than I am, but we both love sitting at home watching a movie and eating pizza. Whatever it is that makes two people compatible, we have it, even if on the outside, we don’t appear to be a perfect fit.
I’m not sure exactly what the object of this post is, other than just to say that true love doesn’t know age. Love doesn’t know society’s rules of what is right and wrong. Love doesn’t know gender, race, or backgrounds. It doesn’t matter if you meet them in High School, or when you’re forty five, when you meet “the one”, you’ll know.
I don’t know how to end this ramble of a post, so I’ll just end it by saying this. Love who you love. Don’t let other people dictate if that is right or wrong – your heart knows.
And maybe take a minute to reflect on your love story. I would love to hear all about it in the comments! This world could always use a bit more love.
A Kinda Pretty Mess 