I was 15, you were 14. Our first date was at the pool. You were my first kiss. "Ice, Ice, Baby" was playing in the background. I was half wrapped in my beach towel when you leaned in. It wasn't my dream first kiss, but I remember floating out to my sister's car and telling her how perfect it was.

You weren't my first love. Our pool outing was our first and only date. I never met your parents; you never met mine. We only ever saw each other at school in the hallways. You asked me to homecoming simply by asking before lunch one day. But, when I look back on our relationship, I know you were the perfect first boyfriend because you set the standard for the rest of them.

Naïvety might be programmed into my DNA. My upbringing surely did not wipe any of it out of me. I learned most -if not all- the swear words I know on the bus freshman year of high school. I came home from my first high school dance scarred by the sight of grinding. I didn't really understand what sex was until health class my sophomore year.

You and I never made it passed a kiss. We held hands; we hugged for awkwardly long periods of time; we kissed before parting ways for class. And for me, it was enough.

You never made me feel like I had to do anything with you. All of our kisses felt mutual. The most hands-on we ever got actually involved interlacing our fingers before walking to choir. You never took advantage of my innocence when someone else may have easily done so.

My friends never thought you were good enough for me. You were kind of dorky, but matched my dorky perfectly. You never hung out with my friends, but when it was just you and me, we didn't need anyone else. We could talk on the phone for hours. They were the kind of talks that would never be boring, never have silences; they would go on and on until one of us got too tired or actually fell asleep talking on the phone.

I don't even think you ever told me I was pretty. I don't think you ever told me I was beautiful. But, because you didn't, I never felt like that was all I was to you. I never felt like I had to be anything but myself with you. I was able to fulfill my need to be dorky, and crazy, and makeup-less without feeling pressured to be anything else but me. In a way, you made me feel more beautiful without even having to say it.

I love looking back on us. What we had was fun, cute and simple. You were what I needed and I hope I was what you needed. I hope moving forward I provided for you exactly what you provided for me.

Thank you.