The One With the Most Romantic Story in the Whole World

Okay. Maybe not the whhhhooollllleeeee world. But it’s definitely the most romantic story in my world.

As I mentioned before, I was in a very serious relationship for a very long time. He was my first everything. First love, first real best friend, first person that made me feel like it was cool being my quirky, awkward self, first breakup I wanted to make-up.

You get it.

He was also the first (and last) boy to go so mind-bogglingly out of his way to do something sweet for me that the memory will always be seared into my brain. I can play it back like a movie at will, and sometimes I still don’t believe it happened to me.

Backstory: Until the summer entering my senior year of high school we had been apart for at maximum three weeks at a time. Near the end of the school year I got notice that I had been accepted to a prestigious summer program for gifted students that would give me a 98% chance of getting into GeekU (read: Nerd Camp). Problem was, it was a six week program. If you ever want to see an otherwise well-adjusted girl with big dreams be willing to sacrifice it all in a most irrational way, tell her she won’t be seeing her boyfriend for a whopping six weeks. Small potatoes now, but it was Apocolypse, Then.

Anyway, there’s a reason that your parents make most vital decisions for you until you’re 18. So they did, and I went.

Three weeks into the program I was missing him dearly, but at the same time gaining my first real taste of independence since we had started dating, and I had gotten, well, hot. So the phone calls were less frequent, I don’t even think texting existed, there was no such thing as Facebook, and I was getting used to the fact that more than one guy in the whole world would ever think I was pretty. This wasn’t to say I wanted to be with my boo any less, but I definitely needed a serious reminder of what I had since technology had yet to gain the reach to step in and do it for me.

Well I got that reminder. In a big way.

I get a phone call from him one afternoon saying that he had sent me a package, and that it should be there that day. Woohoooooo! I think. He knows I like Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams! And he knows I can’t find them here! So he sent me a case!!!!! I literally RAN back to my dorm. It’s embarrassing. I get to my dorm, get the package, realize there is no way 900 boxes of Teddy Grahams can fit into it, and quickly become disappointed (I was a brat!).

With his call to tell me about the package, he also gives me a very stern warning to not, under any circumstances, open it before he calls me and tells me to do so. Being 16 and completely incapable of following any directions that didn’t appear at the beginning of a Calculus exam (I told you I was a nerd!), I immediately sit in my hallway with an RA and tear into the package. Purple vase. Bottle of Fiji Water. Confusion, but he better be sending me flowers as well (brat!). Phone rings.

“What are you doing, babe?”
“Oh, nothing. Hanging out.” (Feverishly repacking the box)
“What’s that rustling noise?”
“Cleaning my room.” (LIES. He knows I hate to clean. Can’t think on my feet)
“Okay well did you get your package?”
“Yes Sir! When can I open it??? I can’t wait to see what you sent!!!” (Stay one lighting bolt away from me at all times people)
“Okay, you can open it now.” (Crinkle Crinkle Crinkle)
- Feigned Surprise - “Hmmm, I don’t get it? What’s the vase for? Thanks for the water?”
“Look Up.”

And there he is. Walking down the hall with a single red rose in his hand.

Did I mention I was in Boston at the time and we both lived in South Florida? Did I mention it’s a 3hr plane ride, and a 26hr drive?

Did I mention he DROVE 26 hours, 1,470 miles to give me a single.red.rose?

I must have kept talking to him through the phone for a good 3 minutes out of shock before he made me stand up and kiss him hello.

Knowing he couldn’t stay for more than 2 hours, knowing that we wouldn’t be able to steal any moments away together (hey, I was at Nerd Camp, Door open and 4-feet on the floor rules were paramount), he packed his friends into a car and drove up the Eastern Seaboard for OVER A DAY to give me a flower.

Now that’s love.


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