My Girl

*sigh*

So I'm home now after going on the longest drive in the history of drives in the history of one man, yours truly, The Rambler. And that says a lot, considering that I've driven across this 3000-mile-long country! I am now in a very sad state - yeah, it's true.

So today I did the basketball thing in the morning and then headed over to Heather's after showering and running a couple of errands. We left around 1430 and hit crazy traffic on the way to LAX. We got to a LA QUINTA INN at 1630 (this is where their orientation was happening) and then went to a Taco Bell for a quick bite. I wish the bite had been longer. Barbara and I pulled away from a suitcase-wheeling Chelsea and Heather around 1900 and that's the last time I'll see my better half until August 24. That's a long time. I got home around 2100 when all was said and done and I'm now holed up in my room trying to distract myself from the reality that she's gone. And she is...

So, for those of you who don't like sentiment, romanticism, or just the release of an uncontrollable force that is a pining, very muchso in love boy: STOP READING!!! For the rest of you, prepare for a solid post of all-things Heather. Because, my friends, that's all I can think about. . .

I have liked Heather since fifth grade. She was the first girl that actually responded to me in any way, shape, or form at Desert Christian. We did kaleidoscopes together (yes, I remember that far back). She was always really nice and I always thought that she was a very cute individual. I continued to have an interest in her in middle school. We were friendly to each other, but she had a consistent boyfriend by the name of Travis through much of middle school (it was one of those off and on things that so symbolized middle school in general). We both remember Valentine's Day on our 7th grade year. We do, because on this day I taped two plastic flowers to her locker door in an attempt to woo fair ladies' heart. She was impressed, but lo and behold, I was still alone in the relationship department. I was one of those guys who had a bunch of friendgirls, but was lacking a girlfriend. I figured in whole this was ok, because I could only learn from watching others anyway, right? Well this continued for awhile, but Heather and I did kinda lose contact for a couple years. Then high school happened. . .

I didn't keep very close touch with Heather through our Freshman and Sophomore years. I was going through a weird phase where I would switch the girl I liked every month or so when nothing materialized over that monthlong period. I was very much interested in having a girlfriend. I wanted a gf merely to say I had one. I truly believe that. I was lonely, and my friends weren't meeting that need there. Every so often, I would be reminded of the existence of one Heather Acuff and be reminded what a great girl she was. On the infamous "Book Buy" day over the summer between our Sophomore and Junior years, I saw her walking towards her car while I was heading towards mine. I called out to her and said we needed to catch up (cuz we had been pretty close in middle school and I thought that we were still pretty friendly). She seemed in a rush (I later learned that their washer had gone haywire and was leaking at their house. Had I known this, I probably wouldn't have wasted her time :D ) so I asked if she was busy or something. She said she was, but agreed that we should catch up. I said I only wanted five minutes (I had a feeling I'd get more if I got that much) and suggested we do it at Retreat (the first week of school at DCHS is a Retreat to a local campground - three days of games, chapels, and meeting new people). I said ok and told her that I'd "Hold her to it" (this would later become an overly used quote of mine - actually, it still is). I ended up e-mailing her later that Summer before Retreat and we chatted a bit via the computer Postal Service. I was getting over being interested in someone else at the time (this one was a bit deeper than the others, but either way, it was nothing but an exaggerated emotional thing - I kinda went crazy for a little bit - not that there's anything wrong with that. . .) so I was pretty unstable in regards to girls. We ended up carrying on fun conversations and around October, I realized that Heather was the girl I wanted to have be my first girlfriend ever. I figured (assumed is more like it) she would completely disagree, though, seeing as though she was very anti-relationship (independent woman that she is). The next three months were a complete blur. . . And yet I remember them like they were yesterday.

Our phone conversations began to last longer and longer. There was one night in December (I remember it was December because, well, I'll get to that) that we actually talked until around 0400 in the morning. We realized that we couldn't possibly go to school at this rate (since it was so late and all) and we both decided we would beg our parents to let us call in sick to school. We hung up with a promise to hang out through the "school day" but not at school. I hung up and immediately got to cleaning my room. It was spick and span by the time my mom woke up and I asked her to please let me do what I wanted. She agreed and I met Heather at BAJA FRESH for lunch. This was my first date. Ever. I was scared shitless. She was so beautiful. I had previously been reminded of her attractiveness a couple months prior to this when she came to school with new highlights in her hair. Holy crap was she hot! It was at that moment that I realized how in over my head I was. Whether that was true or not, we left BAJA and went to the movies to see the Farrelly brothers movie STUCK ON YOU which had just come out. After we saw the movie, we hugged goodbye (o what I would give just to hug her now!) and I drove straight to my friend Mallory's to tell her all about my incredible day. I was beaming the entire time I told her about my experience (as Mal tells the story) and I went home on Cloud Nine (I think that's an expression which means that I was really really happy). What I didn't know was that Heather was just playing with my heart . . .

She has since told me that she didn't like me when we started going out occasionally. We went out for hot chocolate a couple of times and walked around the Mall. Even though she didn't find me at all attractive (among other things), she still got all dolled up and made sure she smelled ever so desireable (I can still smell the scent) just so that I would find her appealing. I did. She was everything that I was looking for. She was funny. She was interesting. She was smart. She was all of those things and more than me in every category. She was way out of my league. She is still. But that didn't stop me from trying. . .

We had 2nd period Study Hall together that year. I made sure I sat by her on day one cuz we had been chatting a bit online, so I figured she's be cordial. I found out quickly (I had to ask "so how is everything") that her mom had been in a terrible motorcycle accident just a couple days prior to school starting. The accident had left her mom in the hospital with terrible road rash and burns over her body and the guy she was riding with had died on-site. It was tough on her. I did what I could to help her get through it, but I wasn't good at consolation. I could sympathize, but I certainly couldn't empathize. Some days I wouldn't get to class on-time so another guy would get the seat next to her. This pissed me off. She was my friend! Plus, this was the "new guy" whom every girl in our grade was crazy about. I was screwed. I tried to use the fact that her and I had Trigonometry and AP Literature together to help. Sometimes it did. I later learned that, at that time, I had a bad breath issue that made it difficult for her to talk to me. How I ended up with her by my side? I'll never know.

I finally went to her house on Christmas Eve of 2003 with a cylinder (is it a can?) of Godiva Hot Chocolate. It was a birthday/Christmas gift (her bday is the 27th) and I was just trying to gain brownie points. We watched A CHRISTMAS STORY together (I had never seen it, which was a complete shock to them) and I was so preoccupied with the fact that I was on a couch next to a gorgeous girl that I don't remember much of the movie. I've heard it's a classic. Another night around this time a bunch of us went over to Cy's to watch some movies. I'll never forget that night. Heahter and I were both sitting on his couch and petting his dog, Ewok. Our hands kept touching, and it was really exciting. Then we ate some "Koalabees" (you know, those cookies that were little koalas with chocolate in the middle? I think that's what they were called) and kept going for the bag at the same time. More hand touching. More excitement. I can remember crossing my legs in front of me and thanking God that I was wearing jeans. I had touched a girl's hand. Wow. . .

It was sometime in the first couple weeks of January that I finally cracked and told her I had feelings for her. Our conversation on the phone lasted about an hour and I talked a good 50 minutes of that. She explained that she was not in the place to start a relationship. I told her (and I reitterated about fifteen times) to just "Consider Me" whenever that time came. I said I'd be waiting for her to come around. She was my girl. She was the Jenny to my Forrest. She was the Leia to my Han. She was the Rachel to my Ross. She said ok and we stopped that conversation quickly. I took her flowers (a dozen of em) on January 23, 2004. This was the night that we studied for our Chemistry final, which was the next day. This was also the night that Heather told me she had considered me and decided to give me a chance. She said she had prayed about it and almost overnight her opinion on me had changed. I thank God everyday at some point for putting her in my life, even though I don't do nearly enough to pay him back.

I just thought about dividing this into several different posts. Meh. I'm kinda almost done. . .

We went on a Missions Trip the last weekend of January. It was called BUILD-A-HOUSE CLUB and it was, well, I guess the title is pretty self-explanatory. It took place in Tijuana, Mexico. This was my first trip over the border. I was sick. Very sick. I coughed all the way down, even though I slept most of the way (I almost didn't go - if my mom had made the decision, I would never have gone). The real reason I went was to see Heather. I'll be honest. We (coincidentally?) were put in the same group and we spent the entire day together, putting up a house for a Mexican family who had no roof over their head. We chatted some more while nailing in the small tacks on the roof. She was incredible. She had said she wasn't sure she wanted to call me her "boyfriend" but she said she kinda liked me too. Well, on the night of January 31, 2004, I got an answer. We were driving to a place where we would be bonfiring and we had just left an ice cream place. I was sitting next to her in the middle section of a full Suburban. I put my left hand towards her and asked, ever so smoothly, "Are your hands cold?". She replied in the affirmative and I took her hands in mine and rubbed them awhile. Then I stopped rubbing and began to just hold her hand. Again, I was thankful that I was wearing jeans. The remainder of the trip was a blur as I was now the boyfriend of one Heather Acuff and this was the catch of the class. I had finally gotten my girl (no pun intended... actually, yeah it was. . .).

What has followed since then has been the best 2 1/2 years of my life. Heather and I have been growing closer and closer everyday. We've seen countless movies together, gone to Broadway and seen THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with our senior class, tried to kiss in Times Square even though our teachers were watching our every move (we never actually succeeded), taken swing dance lessons (even to the point of performing our routine in front of a live audience during THE TOKNIGHT SHOW, a talent show thing that Cy and I hosted our senior year), played an umpteenth amount of games of Egyptian War, stared at the stars for hours up on my roof, and so many more activities that I even struggle remember everything that we've done over that great amount of time. I always say that we're 2 1/2 years going on 60, and people laugh. I'm serious, though. So are we. So is US.

Now she's taking off (at the time of the post - I changed the time to reflect the scheduled departure time of their flight) from LAX and I'm at home on my computer with one of my favorite movies, THE SINGING DETECTIVE, playing in the background. I watched this movie with her once. You see, because of our gigantic amount of things that we've done together, everything there is (that's right, everything!) reminds me of her. I challenge you to come up with something for me to discuss that won't result in me creating a sequence of stories/events that lead me to Heather in some sort of way. Here's an example:

- Ping Pong: leads to Forrest Gump, which leads to the restaurant BUBBA GUMP, which leads to Heather since we've been there a few times for dinner

Not convinced? Here's another one:

- Michael J. Fox: was on SPIN CITY, which was created in part by Bill Lawrence, who also created SCRUBS, which I absolutely love and introduced to Chelsea, who is, in fact, Heather's sister - that easily leads to Heather then. . .

I am the best at this game. Especially since I'm in love.

That just might be the longest post in the history of blogspot.com - - - I wish I could know if that was true. But now, as my eyes well up a bit, and my arms crave to wrap around my girl, and my body lusts for connection (not physical gratification or anything like that, dirty-minds, but simply the closeness of laying next to someone and knowing they aren't moving anywhere) I realize that the five weeks has only just begun. It's funny. You know, the things I'm gonna miss most are having someone to say "Good Morning Beautiful" and "Good Night Heather My Love" to. It's that connection of always being able to text a small message of love and receive a similar "I love you too" back. It's that knowledge that not only is she not just six miles (her Palmdale house) away, not just 90 miles away (her LB apartment), but thousands of miles away and 17 hours ahead of me.

It's going to be a really long time. I'll make it. So will we. And friends (the few who have hung on this long), I promise you that much.

Heather, I love you. And I will miss you oodles! I don't need a koala or any other souvenir. I only need you back.

. . .

. . .


The End.

JUSTIN