I was the homecoming queen of our small high school. I like to think that I was friends with pretty much everyone. To my knowledge, I didn’t have too many enemies in high school. I played sports, got good grades, had my future planned out, and a college boyfriend to top it off. Life was easy for me and I felt pretty much invincible.

I knew who he was. The kid who played drums in the band. He also seemed like somewhat of a trouble maker. He was that pop punk, teen rebellion, Blink-182, kind of guy. I would be in my fourth period privileged study hall, and he would be wandering around the halls like he had nowhere to be. My study hall teacher would always scold him for popping in our classroom, unannounced. She was also the anatomy teacher, which he would occasionally come to for ‘help’. He would sit at the desk, quietly, doing his homework, while my friends and I rambled on about the latest gossip and cutest boys. I knew he was back there listening, judging, but he never said a word and neither did I. Eventually we would stop each other in the halls to flirt, as if him sitting in on my study hall time gave us some sort of reason to be friends. He was cute, we had mutual friends, but let’s get real; he was in the band. Oh, and he played guitar, (winky face). Homecoming queens do not flirt with the band geeks. Besides, I had a boyfriend in college and that made my head even bigger.

The year would continue, and I would go on to graduate that spring with my plans to head north in the fall for college. And yes, it was the same college my boyfriend attended. Band geek was no longer on my mind. I had much more important things to look forward to- like making new friends, joining clubs, getting straight A’s, and living out my love life. Much to my dismay, life completely bitch slapped me when I realized my college experience would be nothing of the sort. I missed home. I missed my small town, my friends and my family. I would head home during the weekends, even when my boyfriend would stay at school. Some of my friends either didn’t go to college or went local, so when I came home we would spend our nights at the local pizza place, or even around a bonfire.

Drummer boy kept popping up during my weekends at home. I had almost forgotten about him, honestly. After a few casual run-ins, this band geek was a really good friend of mine. He was someone I could vent to about school or my latest mental breakdown. When my college relationship went south, he was there to pick up the pieces. And wouldn’t you know, after a little liquid courage at a bonfire one night, that band geek had the audacity to kiss me, not once, but twice! I went home that night in complete shock. There was no way in hell that I was catching feelings for the bank geek. He was not my type, at all. Besides, the homecoming queen does not date the band geek. I only did the most logical thing, which is to keep my feelings to myself and hope to God they went away. They didn’t. I knew he was head over heels for me, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was right behind him. It wasn’t until one night when he sent me a short clip of him playing guitar that I was convinced; this band geek was going to be my next boyfriend.

And wouldn’t you know, the homecoming queen and the band geek have been together for almost a year now. He still plays drums and guitar, and I still do my college thing. We couldn’t have been two more opposite people in high school, but today we have unlimited things in common. If there is one thing I wish I could go back and tell the homecoming queen, it would be that you can in fact date the band geek.