i started noticing him around 7th grade. he was the tallest guy in our school, towering over the other middle schoolers at about 6"2. throughout the day you'd hear a couple girls chatter about the cute tall boy around the school, pieces of the conversation floating over like "he's so tall," "he's hot," or even "i'd tap that."
it's not that i was scared of him, just the glancing over everyone's head and the perfectly straight teeth put me off from him. i'm already a shy girl as is, and so a 13 year old the size of my father didn't help. despite my pride, i was intimidated by this flashy new being looking down on my 5"5 self.
"i've never seen you before," i hear through the screams of students around me, the volleyball team below the bleachers scoring a point. i look up and it just happens to be the only guy in school who could make my stomach do a triple twisting flip. i must of gotten so into the game i forgot people where actually around me. My mind forst went to defensive, but then it cooled with, of course he doesnt know me. I'm not some loser with no friends but we have no classes together and im not the 'it' girl by any means, so the slight awkwardness between us should've been a given. But my stance felt ridged. I could feel my mind scrambling for a cool and collected way to respond to someone doing a way better acting "casual" job than me. should i give him something sassy but not rude, or should i go with the chill and aloof persona?
"could say the same to you, im karissa," i say with a smile and turn back to the game, trying to brush off my blatant lie. everyone knew who this kid was. it was kind of hard to ignore him.
"cool. im jack," he says and turns back towards our team destroying some out of towners. the rest of the game was the usual, cheering and parents gazing down on their escape to back in their glory days.
by the end of the night i was leaving with my small group of close friends toward the exit when i felt a nudge on my shoulder. i turned around and had to adjust my head and look up at the kid standing behind me. "hey," he says casually, "i was wondering if you would add me on snapchat?"
jesus christ it doesnt get anymore middle school than this. internally i roll my eyes but give him a smile and go "yeah sure," as i type his username into my phone.
and that was the beginning story of my first ever relationship. as we continued to get more comfortable through memes and what would seem boring conversation to others except us, we decided to make it official and start hanging out outside of school and letting people know about "us." this relationship carried out for a few years; it was no middle school fling, we had actually managed to get some substance through the acne and mood swings of everyday prepubescence.
