High School Crush...?

Readers, it is the week of Valentine's Day and as many of you know, I'm celebrating with Jason on Wednesday and Friday, therefore...I'd thought I'd give my blog over to a few other people this week to talk about their experiences on Valentine's Day, love, heck...whatever really!

Today I want to introduce you to Sel from Growing, Laughing and Loving in Life. I was given the privilege to meet this beautiful lady at the Northern Virginia blogger meet up just a few weekends ago and she has offered to take over today! Without further ado...Sel, everybody!


Hi Abbey readers! I'm honored to be here, writing a guest post for Abbey about Valentine's Day.

Everyone calls me Sel. They're my initials, but I guarantee some close friends may need a moment to remember what my first name is. I don't remember who started calling me Sel, but I do know it was early in high school. And it stuck. So, hi! I'm Sel.

I'm a High School Social Studies Teacher turned sahm to my fabulous little sidekick, M. We're expecting our second bundle of joy in July and are thrilled to start a new chapter in our lives while having no idea what we're doing. We figure we'll be just fine since M is the best of The Husband and I.

Anyway.

Back to Valentine's Day. It's one of my favorite holidays.

I mean, the day is all about love, right? We see pink and red hearts everywhere, hear romantic music in every store and every radio station, and see an insane amount of flower deals pop up in papers and online.

With all of that, how can you NOT be in the mood for love?

And since I even have the word "Loving" in my blog title, how can I not write about my second favorite holiday? (My most favorite holiday being my birthday, of course)

I was thinking of things I could write about pertaining to Valentine's Day. Maybe tips on how to be romantic with your loved one? Or maybe on how to decorate a little corner of your home in Valentine's themed decorations? What about ideas on how to totally forget about the day if you're single?

And then I realized, I'd have no clue what I'm talking about with those topics. I'd be fluffing up a post, and that isn't my thing.

What I am good at is writing about myself.

So, I'm bringing you an unfortunately true story of the first time I thought I was celebrating the Day of Love with someone special.

Sure, the guy and I weren't dating when we celebrated the day together. But we should've been. I really loved him according to my 17 year old heart.

His name was Matt. I'd had a crush on him since 7th grade, just like every other girl did. He was funny, cute, semi smart, popular. What else could you want in a middle school boyfriend?

But here we were, seniors in high school and the best of friends. (WOOF for being in the friend zone, but I was determined to get into the girlfriend zone.)

Neither of us had a significant other at the time. And to be totally honest, my boyfriend and I broke up the very day before, when his other girlfriend called me, asking why I was talking to her man. So that settled that relationship.

Anyway, since Matt and I were best friends, why not spend Valentine's Day together?

He came over to my house, (where I claimed the sunroom as my "dining space" for the evening and made a whole layout of random flowers, some candles and sprayed the room with some overly strong scent from Victoria's Secret) and we made dinner together.

Ladies and gentlemen, we made pre-flavored pasta with chicken that I didn't know I should've seasoned beforehand.

I remember seeing Matt add an exorbitant amount of salt and pepper to his meal, and at the time I didn't realize why he was doing that. I know now it was because I made him flavorless chicken with some random bag of pasta I bought from the grocery store.

I had also purchased a baguette because we all know that carbs plus more carbs at dinner equals amazeballs.

Except, the baguette had hardened from buying it 24 hours prior. I distinctly remember Matt trying to cut the bread and it pretty much crumbling under his fingers. Whatever. It added character to the evening.

After a non-romantic dinner, thanks to the scents of the candles giving me a bad headache and putting me in a less than stellar mood, we went to the living room to watch tv.

There, we watched some random show when an actress on tv suddenly made Matt exclaim, "Wow. She looks just like my ex.." insert-name-here-because-I've-now-forgotten-it. Great, right?

I mean, I totally want my crush to think of his ex when he's with me, you know? FAIL.

So I tried to change the subject by saying this was my favorite Valentine's Day yet. His response? "That's nice. Last year, my ex and I did blah blah blah..." and that would be the moment I stopped listening to him.

Now, any girl with an ounce of self-respect would've thought, "Well, I guess I'll just remain in the dreaded friend zone for all of eternity with Matt."

But was I that type of girl? Of course not!

I channeled my inner cheerleader and said, "Umm, anyway. I made chocolate brownies! Just for you!" You know, in that peppy! happy! cheerleader voice.

We each had a brownie, chatted a little more, and I walked with Matt to his car outside. A mere 20 feet from the front door of my house, but still. I was focusing on the idea that if there is going to be a big kiss, this is when it would happen.

As Matt and I said our goodbyes, we had a brief awkward silence. (It was exactly like those times in the movies when you cringe just watching the scene.)

Matt leaned in and I closed my eyes. This was it, y'all. Six years of crushing on this guy and I'm finally getting a kiss.

And then it happened.

I felt his arms around me, giving me an almost pat-on-the-back type of hug, heard him say "Bye Sel," and then immediately heard his engine roar to life.

There was no kiss.

There was no proclamation of his undying love for me, when there should've been.

Hell, there wasn't even a great hug at the end.

I was disappointed, but realized that any Valentine's Day celebrating I'd do from then on out would be with someone that truly appreciates my tasteless chicken cooking, tv watching, brownie making self.

And it would happen a lot sooner than I thought.

Thank you, Abbey, for letting me steal your slice of the interwebs!

xo
Sel

Just so everyone is aware...Sel is still friends with Matt. And the guy she broke up with the day before? She's now married to him! Funny how things turn out, huh? I hope you enjoyed her story as much as I did!