School sweethearts

It's funny when you are doing whatever, and you find yourself recalling moments from your childhood or adolescence. That is exactly what happened to me today and I decided to write about it.

The thing which triggered my memories was a Gloria Estefan's CD called "Mi tierra" which I used to listen when I was 15. I was listening to it this morning while correcting tests. When this CD was released, Aerosmith also started selling their "Big ones" album.

That was the disc which was being played the day I met the boy who ended up being my first true love.

Both of us were 15, and I was really shy for my age. I was not thinking about having boyfriends as the rest of teenagers who were around me, I left that itchy thing for them. I already had had a pair of short experiences (the first one lasted one week, and the second two months) and I thought it wasn't my moment to have a boyfriend. I was truly OK having tons of friends and enjoying every moment with them.

One day, my friends and I went to one of my new classmates' house, because he wanted us to meet his former classmates from E.A.S. I arrived there with five girls, and we found a beautiful noisy house, fully covered with six boys' excitement for meeting girls.

I can still remember that day being a really cold one. I was wearing a pair of black tiny gloves, blue jeans that my god-mother gifted me for my 15Th birthday, a colourful scarf, a baggy sweater, and a black woollen hat, which made my face look younger.

After some minutes there, a pair of my friends were "deeply-in-love" with two strangers, and I just only laughed at them. I found such urgency about calling LOVE to any type of attraction, quite childish and silly.

We spent the whole afternoon dancing, everything was nice until one of the boys took the microphone (we were 12 but the boys were singing and playing an electronic guitar) and almost screamed: "Raul likes the one with the hat!"... I stayed in shock for some seconds, then I looked at one of my friends, and started laughing while taking my hat off.

Obviously, everyone laughed at my reaction and Raul was quite red due to the embarrassment caused by his friend's outburst. After some minutes, I said: "Bye everyone, it was a pleasure meeting you", and I heard one of the boys whispering "Go Raul, walk her home, it's just three blocks away"; I started walking, and when he asked me if I wanted him to walk with me, I answered with my eyes looking to the floor: "No, thank you, it's cold outside and my house is not that far...bye!"

Days passed and I didn't see Raul again. But I had my friends teasing me all the time with that episode.

By that time, my mother finally agreed on letting me go to school dances, those organized on Saturday evenings, by teenagers who wanted to earn some money to afford their school trips. It was in one of those that I saw him again. I was dancing with my friends, and he came unnoticeable from the crowd, asking me if I wanted to dance with him. "No, thank you, I'm with my friends, I can't leave them, our policy is either all of us dance with someone, or no one leaves the group" I said with a tone of satisfaction, thinking he would go away. He smiled slightly showing his two upper-middle-separate teeth, and answered: "Don't worry, my friends also want to dance with yours"... I obviously didn't have many options.

That night was beautiful, because without expecting it, I spent the most romantic hours being just a 15 years-old girl, without kisses, because it was not well-seen kissing someone you don't know for a while, at least, with his hands holding mine, looking at each other's eyes and talking endlessly about our interests.

Two months passed, and finally on August 26Th, 1993, this boy became my boyfriend, after being mute for hours and shaking as an autumn leaf. I remember our faces full of happiness, with huge smiles, hugging and kissing for the first time, feeling that our love would last forever...

Sadly, due to his insecurity, and jealousy, our relationship only lasted four months. But even when many years have passed since those four marvellous months, I will always hold in some corner of my heart my love for him, which is not as strong as the one I feel for my husband, but will die with me as what has always been...my first true love.