On August 21st, 2012, I awoke with ease; due to the fact that I had not been asleep long enough to be tired. As I went to brush my teeth, and greet my family, my heart was rapidly pounding out of my chest. It was the day of my very first date. I was thirteen years old; I had just barely escaped from my awkward years. After I sat down in front of the crooked mirror in my room, I began to get ready for my date, a few too many hours in advance.

In order to calm my nerves, I blasted old Disney tunes on my generation 4 iPod touch as I caked makeup on my fresh face. I could infer that my Mom was curious as to why I was getting ready for a mall trip so early, but preteens have done more peculiar things. Once my hair was as straight as a stick, and my eyes were compacted with mascara, eyeliner, and eyeshadow, I was ready for my outfit. A luminescent hot pink shawl, a black pencil skirt, and my brand new Hello Kitty converse. I had chosen this outfit 3 weeks in advance, however, I still went through adolescent turmoil as to whether it was the perfect outfit or not. After debating with myself for 10 minutes, I decided that I looked as “mature” as I was going to get.

During the car ride over, my stomach was in convulsing knots. I listen to more music in order to distract myself. My mom and brother tagged along with us, however, we split up once we entered Short Pump. Before My boyfriend, Bradley, arrived, I went to a quaint sports shop in order to buy him a gift. After looking for about 15 minutes, my best friend who tagged along for the ride, Maddison, found a small white mug that had VCU Rams printed on the front.

The time had finally come for me to meet Bradley at the food court. I could feel my heart expanding as I rode up the escalator. I repeatedly asked Maddison if I looked pretty, to the point of driving her insane. Once we reached the top, I saw this tall, broad, blonde boy wearing a VCU T-shirt and bright red basketball shorts. He was beaming from ear to ear. I gave him his VCU mug and embraced him nervously. When we first started walking together, the sounds of people conversing, laughing and shopping disappeared completely. We were so infatuated with each other, that a space between us and the rest of Short Pump Mall was made.

By that time, Bradley insisted on kissing me. Which, caused me to have a feeling in my stomach that was so atrocious, the feeling of my stomach itself would have caused me to throw up, more so than the idea of having my first kiss. We all decided to walk into Dick’s Sporting Goods. Once we arrived at the food court, Bradley made it clear to me that he wanted to be alone. So, we inched up the escalator, and regardless of his request, Maddison snuck up the escalator and followed us to the Kayak section on the 2nd floor. She hid in a rotating rack of coats, while Bradley and I looked into each other’s eyes, in front of a humongous window opposite from the food court. Bradley leaned down with his eyes shut and his lips puckered, and I got on my tip toes and went to kiss him back. On the way back to finding my mom and brother, I was on cloud nine. My stride had a skip to it, and I could not stop grinning. Maddison, on the other hand, was entirely upset about experiencing her first third wheeling experience.

After reflecting on this memorable, yet, cringe-worthy day, I appreciate how far Bradley and I have come in the past 4 and a half years. We've gone from dressing up and stressing about our looks, to being ourselves and just enjoying each other's company.