High School Sweethearts: The Last Goodbye Side Story

Carlos Ramirez

Carlos Ramirez was the first love of my life. We met our freshman year of high school in detention.

How we got in detention was Carlos' fault. I caught him cheating on my biology test. I was about to tell him off when our teacher, Mrs. Cornwall, caught us "talking."

We wound up in detention, my first time ever getting in trouble. Carlos and I were the only two people in detention, so the teacher took the opportunity to get some coffee. While she was gone, Carlos introduced himself. 

"The name's Carlos, by the way. Sorry for getting you into trouble. And for copying off your test."

I laughed and told him my name. I realized at that moment that he was crazy cute. He was in my class for almost three months at the time and I never noticed how extremely attractive he was with his dark black hair and gorgeous green eyes. 

"And don't worry about it," I said, "if you hadn't, we probably would've never met."

After detention, we exchanged numbers as we waited for our parents to pick us up. I remember getting into the car and my mother asked me who he was. 

"My new friend," I said with a smile.

After that day, Carlos and I were almost inseparable. My best friend Jill would tag along and became really good friends with him. 

I'm not going to lie, sometimes I would get jealous of Jill when she talked to him because I felt like he laughed harder when she was around. 

A month after the day of detention, Carlos showed up at my house, unexpectedly, and asked me to be his girlfriend. I was so shocked that he actually liked me and said yes with no hesitation. 

We ended up taking a walk to the park near my house where we shared our very first kiss, my first kiss, on the top of the monkey bars. It was the most magical moment of my life. 

The next two years served as a wild adventure filled with school dances, study dates, summer road trips and plans for the future.

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" I asked Carlos as we laid in the back of his pickup truck on the first day of summer after our junior year.

He sat up and looked at me, a big smile forming on his face. "If in five years I'm not with you anymore, I don't know where I'll be. Probably lost and alone."

I laughed a little, expecting nothing less than a little humor when Carlos was trying to be romantic. 

"What about you?" He asked. 

I looked up at the sky and said, "somewhere great." 

Little did I know, my future was sooner than later.

Senior year of high school rolled around quickly,  just like a car I was in after a drunken night at a party had.

Carlos Ramirez was the first love of my life. He was also my last.