To a girl in seventh grade, meeting a boy is the biggest deal. You have literally never been around so many males. Your head is actually spinning in the lunch line and you can't help but go running back to your friends giggling because, "You literally just saw the cutest boy ever AND he's on the football team!" That was how I felt at least about this one specific boy, who shall remain unnamed because he would hate the fact that I ever told people about how wonderful he was. He was in my English class, we sat directly across the room from each other. It was a perfect vantage point for casually looking deeply into his sea blue eyes without him noticing and swooning over the way he tapped his pencil on his desk. It was actually the most tragic thing ever though because he had a girlfriend. So my game plan on this issue was to just complain about it and pray to God that eventually he would notice me from across the room and well fall in love with me of course. News spread fast to me (because I made my crushing well known) that they had broken up because he liked me.

"OMG!!" exclaimed my seventh grade self. Rumors spread even faster that he was going to ask me to slow dance at the next Friday night dance. I, of course, bought a new dress and spent weeks looking forward to this. You would think that the rest of this story would go that he asked, we danced and fell in love happily ever after. Well, kinda. He asked me to dance and I said no. Then, the persistent (thank God) person he is, asked if I would go for pizza downtown one day and I said no. What was I thinking? I couldn't tell you. In a third time's the charm effort he asked one more time to dance with me during the last slow song and I said yes. We spent the next four months barely talking to each other because well, we were in seventh grade and me keeping it a secret from my mom because boyfriends were just forbidden. We went on our first group date and he came to my house after.

My mom asked if anyone wanted a cupcake she had made. Everyone else realized that it was the last one so they probably shouldn't take it; he devoured it. Within seven months we had our first kiss. Oh what an experience! He licked his lips and at the last second I turned my head to answer a friend calling my name and he kissed the side of my face. Luckily that persistence was shining through again and he tried again, this attempt successful. Within a year I could feel myself falling in love with him. No longer did I see him as my boyfriend to brag about but he was my best friend. He was there when no one else was. He was there to go through junior high awkwardness with. He was there to laugh with. We watched movies all the time because we couldn't drive anywhere. We had our moms take us on movie dates and lots of them. We listened to each other's favorite songs on the couch in my basement. He was unlike any other guy I had ever met or talked to in so many ways, in all the best ways. In 2 years, he decided to go to a boarding school not too far away. I thought it was the end of the world of course. The world could literally be ending and he would smile at me and say "It is what it is." So we made it work. I went to as many of his games as I could.

He visited every Wednesday that he had half days and we spent every weekend just loving being together. On Sundays, we always went to his grandparents' house for dinner. I love those people. Five years later, he had to live there for his senior year. I once again thought the world was ending. I mean if I was on the homecoming court and he couldn't be there to watch me walk across the field that would be the most tragic thing ever right? He said he couldn't make it because he just wasn't allowed to sign out that weekend. Naturally, he was there in all his glory. In a way I was surprised but at the same time I wasn't even a little. Six years later, he goes to college across the country. I miss him every day. But he always assures me it's going to be okay. This is because he is The One. He is the one that is different from all the rest. He is the one that could make me smile on my worst days. He is the one who has never left my side. He is the one who can leave me hysterically giggling in the passenger's seat as he lets go of the wheel to dance to his favorite song. He is the one who never ceases to amaze me with everything he can accomplish and still be so damn humble. He is the one who will always be ready to listen to my nonsense. He is the one who has made me a better person. He is the one who makes me want to try new things and enjoy every blessed day, It may seem so hard in your teenage years and on to find a boy that is different from all the rest, a boy that is going to treat you like you are his whole world and change your life, but he exists. I found him.