ReminiscingI quite like JT, he's cute and cool in a totally non-threatening, attainable way. And you know he'd be sweet to your nana too.
Anyway, thinking about JT reminded me of my high school boyfriend, QDM (Quick Draw McGraw LOL). QDM was well intentioned, but a bit dim, sweet, earnest, eager to please (just like the cartoon horse LOL). Cute. And looked a little like JT.
QDM and I met at high school. I went to an all girls school, he went to the all boys school and the boys school were having a dance and the girls from our school were invited. It was March 1989, I was in 4th Form (I was 14) and I went to the dance with a bunch of girlfriends (I even remember what I wore - it was the height of fashion to wear ruffle and bubble skirts, I was wearing a black bubble skirt, which made me look like a wombat, LOL).
As we were dancing away (in a group, in a circle LOL), we managed to inch our way across the gymnasium floor until we were near where Richie (the cutest kid in 4th Form and the object of my friend Sharon's affections) and his friends were sitting. Remember, boys never danced in 1989. In tried and true teenage fashion, my friend Sharon wouldn't go up and talk to Richie herself, she sent a messenger, me. So, I bowled up to Richie and asked if he wanted to dance with my friend Sharon (and pointed to her in all her peach ruffle skirted glory). Richie had a mullet and wore a leather jacket. So you know he was cool.
He said he'd only dance with Sharon if one of her friends would dance with one of his friends. He pointed to his mate. I said I'd dance with him (I know, I am such a good friend LOL). So Sharon got to dance to "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul (her favourite song) with Richie and I got to dance with QDM.
Apparently, when you're 14, dancing with someone at a high school dance means you are immediately boyfriend and girlfriend LOL. QDM and I had one dance and then sat on the seats positioned around the gym floor and kissed. With tongues, which I had no clue about, and was so perplexed as to why his tongue was in my mouth and what should I do with mine? LOL.
Anyway, QDM and I went out for about 6 months. Nothing very serious. He was a good kisser and used to buy me banana milkshakes at McDonald's LOL.Then I had the biggest, most unattainable crush on an older boy (by 3 years, wow LOL), MJ. MJ was a popular senior student at the local boys school. House Captain, Sports Captain, Prefect etc...
MJ was hot. Tall, tanned, blonde. Played rugby and cricket. Was a life guard at the local swimming pool (where I would spend every weekend during the summer so I could watch him LOL). I never did anything about the crush, except go on and on about him to my friends. This of course, made them nuts. Every October there's an A&P Show (agricultural and pastural) held in my hometown. This is a three day event held at the local showgrounds, that has everything from showjumping to tractors, exhibitions to ferris wheels. It was a big thing to go when you were a kid/teenager, as there were fun rides and stalls etc.
During the height of my crush on MJ, which would have been in 1989 LOL, i went with my very best friend to the A&P Show. We spent most of our time on the rides. We were on the ferris wheel when I spotted MJ. My heart nearly pounded out of my chest! My best friend saw him near the ferris wheel and as our car went past, yelled out to him "Hey MJ, my friend Tart loves you!!". Oh man, I can still feel the embarrassment now LOL. He looked up at me and smiled.
We got off the ferris wheel and despite my fervent wish for the ground to open up and swallow me whole, found MJ waiting at the exit. As we walked past, he smiled at me again and said "hey". That was it. I went from crush to love in about 3.2 seconds LOL.
From that moment on, I was obsessed with MJ. I used to bike past his house twice a day - on the way to, and from, school. As luck would have it, two things happened that meant I saw him on a regular basis. His best mate, Martin, started going out with my best mate, Kylie and we got to hang around in a big group together quite a bit. And my father used to coach him in a regional rep rugby team. I'd see him, we'd talk, flirt a bit, but that was it.
Now you'd think spending time in each others company, one of us would pluck up the courage to ask each other out? Wrong LOL. My little 15 year old brain thought, instead of actually like, talking to him, I'd send in a request to the local radio station - Hot 93FM! - to play a song for him during their nightly "Request Show" (9-10pm). So I wrote in and asked them to play "If You Don't Know Me" by Simply Red (I wanted to be different, as most soppy requests were for "Crazy For You" by Madonna and I wanted to be cooler than that LOL) and I asked them to dedicate it to MJ from "the coaches daughter". Cool huh? (no, tragic LOL). So I wait and the next Tuesday night I hear "our" song. I squeal and my heart thumps and the next day at school all my friends are like "I heard your song last night" and "was that your request on 93FM?" etc etc.
I didn't see MJ for a week or so, but then about two weeks later, I hear "She Drives Me Crazy" by the Fine Young Cannibals on the Request Show and it's dedicated to "my full name, from MJ". SQUEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLL. Oh man! I got a request!
The next day at school was probably one of the best days of my high school life LOL. It seemed like every girl in school heard it and would say "I heard your request last night, that was so cool". "MJ totally likes you" etc, I was for a moment, the coolest girl in, not only 4th form, but the whole school. Some of the 7th Formers even spoke to me LOL.
The next time I saw MJ he smiled and said hi and we chatted but neither one of us mentioned the radio requests LOL. And so it went back to me being gaga over MJ and him being sweet and nice and flirting with me. And then he left to go to university. So I hardly saw him, except during the long summer holidays when he'd be back in our hometown.
During this time, I got an after school job working in a deli. One of the women working there was, would you believe it, MJ's mother! She was so nice and very funny. And one day, after I'd been working there for about 6 months she goes, "you're the girl that has a crush on my son, aren't you?". I laughed and said an embarrassed yes, she smiled and said "he likes you too".
I'd like to say that this crush turned into something more after that revelation, but it went on, flirting and talking, for months and amazingly, for years.
I was 18 and had two semi-serious boyfriends by the time MJ and I finally met again. And it happened in such a funny way. I'd gone with my Dad to watch a rugby game between our provinical team and a visiting team (MJ was playing top grade rugby for the visiting team) and as I was walking down the steps of the grandstand, MJ's team were walking towards the grandstand, into the changing rooms. I looked up and saw MJ, all sweaty and dirty, pulling off his headgear. We somehow managed to catch each others eyes (it wasn't a big grandstand, I'm from a small town LOL) and as I walked down a few more steps to reach ground level, MJ comes up to me and says "still got that crush?". Damn, I didn't think he knew LOL.
We talked, he asked me to wait for him outside the grounds, while he had to shower and get changed (which I did - Dad didn't seem to mind me staying behind LOL). I remember waiting and watching the exit, and when he walked through the gate and into the sun, I swear he was glowing!
Anyway, we went to the pub and from that moment on, we pretty much spent all our time together. I even went to the same university as him so we could be together. Awww. We went out for nearly 4 years, broke up just after my 21st birthday.
I haven't seen for a few years now, the last time I saw him was in France in 2004. I bumped into him in a bar in Montmarte. What a small world! He was still gorgeous, still playing rugby and still making fun of me and my crush on him LOL.
Tart at 4:50 PM |
This reminds me of when I wrote a secret admirer note for a boy I crushed on in the 5th grade. I had just seen the movie "Secret Admirer" and thought it was a great idea. Although, sort of pointless given that he never knew I wrote it. LOL.
I also had this HUGE crush on a basketball player who was a year older than me in high school. I wasn't so lucky, he never knew I existed.
Love JT's new song.