When we started our senior year, my friend Stephanie and I would always go to the same diner and do our homework or study, eat an after school snack, and smoke cigarettes. There were other students there doing the same thing, and even though we weren’t 18 no one ever asked any questions. We went to the same grade school, but different high schools, which enabled us to make friends from both schools since this diner was a central location for either school.
It just happened that we both had a half day on the same day, so we were at the diner earlier than usual. It was a nice, sunny day out, so most of our friends decided to spend the time outside. However, we were bookworms and quizzing each other in our different classes or talking about photography. It was really nice to be in similar classes as someone from a different school; we were able to explain things in different ways to each other and it was a big help on our tests.
Since we were at the diner earlier than usual, we were the only ones there other than this one guy eating and drinking coffee. Honestly, I didn’t notice him until he kept staring at me. He was in the booth behind Stephanie, and sitting on the side opposite me, so eye contact was always possible. I locked eyes with him a few times as he was staring at me, and I lost concentration on my studying.
“Please stop staring,” I said out of nowhere, confusing Stephanie. She turned around, saw him, and laughed.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help looking at beautiful things,” he said.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help looking at beautiful things,” he said.
I made a disgusted noise, shook my head, and focused on Psychology. He kept smiling at me, so I said, “Dude, you’re being really f***ing creepy,” while Stephanie kept laughing. He laughed, and said, “I can’t help but smile because I know one day you’ll be with me.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, one day, you’re gonna be my girl.”
“I really doubt that. You look like you’re 30.”
“Aw, that’s harsh, I’m 22. You don’t like older guys?”
“I don’t like creepy older guys.”
“I’m not creepy, I’m confident.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“See, you don’t realize it, but you’re flirting with me and leading me on, you think you’re being mean.”
“I don’t think I’m being mean, I could say a lot worse.”
“Anyway, let me guess, you’re 18 and waiting to finish high school?”
“Too bad for you, I’m only 17,” I said, thinking this would shut him up.
“That’s fine. I can wait.”
“OK buddy, you do that,” I said, trying to focus again on studying.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, one day, you’re gonna be my girl.”
“I really doubt that. You look like you’re 30.”
“Aw, that’s harsh, I’m 22. You don’t like older guys?”
“I don’t like creepy older guys.”
“I’m not creepy, I’m confident.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“See, you don’t realize it, but you’re flirting with me and leading me on, you think you’re being mean.”
“I don’t think I’m being mean, I could say a lot worse.”
“Anyway, let me guess, you’re 18 and waiting to finish high school?”
“Too bad for you, I’m only 17,” I said, thinking this would shut him up.
“That’s fine. I can wait.”
“OK buddy, you do that,” I said, trying to focus again on studying.
He stood up, walked over to me and said, “I really wish you’d consider going on a date with me.”
“You do realize that I’m 17 and I live with parents who would probably keep me locked in the house forever if I came home and said I was going on a date with a 22-year-old. I’m not willing to waste my freedom on some creepy a** guy that wastes his day in a diner hitting on teenage girls. Move along."
“So don’t tell your parents.”
“Did you not hear me? I’M NOT INTERESTED! You’re not my type and you’re too old. I can’t relate to your lifestyle, and I don’t want to.”
“I know you’re going to change your mind,” he said as he grabbed my hand, kissed it, and walked away.
“Ew,” was all I could say.
Stephanie kept laughing, and a few weeks later, I was dating a 22-year-old guy named Erik, who I tried to help dress better. He never finished school, in fact, I don’t know what the last grade he accomplished was. We’d work on long division and multiplication. I helped him with some reading. I bought him food when he was unemployed, and I dumped him every time he got too wasted.
It’s really hard to describe why I stayed in this relationship for as many months as I did. I can honestly say, looking back, I never felt an attachment to him where I’d envision us spending the rest of our lives together and getting married. Somehow, I managed to form a connection and I felt like I was truly needed by someone. Of course we had great times together, but the relationship eventually turned into me trying to help him be the best he could in every way. A few years ago, someone I know ran into him and it sounds like he’s being very productive in his life and is really on a great path. I’m really, truly happy for him. This was just another situation where two people from completely different worlds got into a relationship and it didn’t work out. However, our differences weren’t the only reason we didn’t work out…
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