Looking back with an analytical eye there appears to be a correlation between having your heart broken and a surge in popularity. Prior to the Beau Dance I don’t recall girls calling me up and asking me for a date. With the crushing of my heart there was a sudden up tick in the volume of girls who considered me worthy of their attention.
Unlike Mimi and Peggy, Cha was someone I knew. When or where we may have first met would be difficult to determine. We definitely had seen each other around Marshall High and at various BBYO activities. There was a chance we had spoken to each other about something, but none of that mattered when I answered the phone and heard her voice.
Cha was cute. In fact, she was so cute M and I decided she deserved a special nickname. So, just like M is a nickname that has stuck for a long time, so is Cha. Now, when she started to tell me about a summer party her BBG chapter was having I prepared myself to be told about some wonderful girl she wanted to match up with me. An image of Mimi quickly flashed before my eyes. That’s when I realized she wanted me to go with her to the party. Already having assumed the worst I almost said no. Fortunately, my mind moved ahead of my tongue and I accepted her offer.
During the couple weeks between being asked and the date of the party I continued to hang out with M, the two Jeffs, cousin Jim, and other friends. We still went to the Pizza Wagon parking lot to hang out, and to see what girls were flirting with Hector since his break up with Marcy. No matter what time of night there were always girls adoring his Spanish accent and button popping pectorals. A few of the well-lubricated patrons who stopped after the bars closed had to pull their wives away from the oversized kid guarding the back door.
One time when Jim and I were talking to Hector he waved to a friend without thinking. It was Donna. She and Hector both went to Washington High. Dennis, whose arm was around her, used to go to Washington but had moved to the eastside. I still didn’t understand what she saw in him, and if she was fickle shouldn’t she have dropped him by then. It was all quite awkward.
A few days later on a night Hector had off I was standing in the parking lot when Norman spotted some people he knew. I didn’t know the redhead he introduced as Randee, but I had met Marcy on several occasions when she was with Hector. She never seemed tall next to him, but somehow she seemed statuesque standing in that parking lot, and when we started to talk there was more going on than just words.
We ended up taking them home and when she asked me what I was doing Saturday night I told her about my date with Cha. She just smiled and said to let her know how it goes.
Even though I was quite aware I was with the cutest girl at Pippi’s house, and quite possibly in a twenty-mile radius, as Cha and I stood on the basement stairs my mind was someplace else. Then, to make things even more bizarre Pippi started talking about how she had seen Marcy recently and she thought she was having a difficult time getting over her breakup with Hector. Cha asked me if I knew who Marcy was and I nodded.
Here I was with someone I had sincerely wanted to spend time getting to know and there was something pulling me in another direction. Somehow, it didn’t seem fair.
Did you ever go on a date you had been looking forward to and suddenly realize you wanted to be somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comment section.
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