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Ninth Grade: Trowa

The picture above is me and Trowa freshman year.

Two names can sum up my ninth grade year. Trowa and Matthew. Ah, but you all are reading this story because you (for reasons I can't fathom) are interested in my life, so you want to hear the story. Don't worry, I'll give it to you in every embarrassing detail.

High school couldn't have started off better for me. I was thrilled at making the school's softball team, and while I wasn't totally popular, I had the best group of socially awkward friends.

I may have talked to Trowa a little more that year. Okay, that's an understatement. I talked to him every day. We shared long calls, our longest one being over eight hours.

Bit by bit, I began learning more about the weird guy at school. Trowa had a different taste in music, and he radiated pain and suffering. I learned about his rough past and came to realize that he really had no support at home. I felt for the guy, but that's not the only reason I talked to him, of course.

In return, I told him of my tragic history. Trowa was such a great listener. He always listened when I talked to him. He really was my rock. He was the calm personality I needed at that time. The time we didn't spend on the phone with each other we spent in person. He'd come over to my place to play video games almost every day each week.

Like any normal teenage girl, I dressed up for the dance at school. But this dance was nothing like the casual middle school dances I had attended. Every girl was extravagantly dressed with her hair, makeup, and nails perfectly done. I felt silly in the old dress my grandma had bought me a couple years before.

Freshmen want so badly to fit in. They're just in that weird adjusting phase, you know? But my friend group didn't care about that. So that's why, even though I was completely underdressed that night, it didn't matter.

A lot of that night was a blur, to be completely honest. I remember talking to Molly, a softball friend. I told her about my feelings for Trowa. She confronted him and told him to ask me to dance with him. Well, Trowa actually did that. I don't remember all of the dances we shared that night, but one of them definitely stands out. The last dance we shared.

A slow song came on, and every couple in the room was coming together to dance. My eyes found Trowa, and I knew what to do. I went to him and it was a little awkward at first. We remained at arm's length and moved stiffly. But eventually I warned up to him enough that I laid my head on his chest. I couldn't reach his shoulder because of my shortness and his tallness.

Even after I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing ended, Trowa and I danced. In fact, I think I may have dozed off. When I finally opened my eyes, the lights were on and people were leaving.

That was the moment I realized I'd fallen totally and hopelessly in love with Trowa Vasquez.

I came home that night ecstatic. I immediately called Trowa. He'd been struggling with getting over an ex for some time. I asked if he still had feelings for her, and he told me he did.

I lost my first love as soon as I'd gotten him. So maybe the open wound was the reason I said yes to Matthew when he asked me out shortly after.

~Izzy