My Life as a Romantic Comedy

My second road trip of the summer has been fantastic! I went to CoolCity to sing at church one more time before making my way to RuralSchool for another lesson ... I returned to CoolCity to hang out with Former Roommate ... and am now here in yet another city for BestFriend's wedding which takes place tomorrow!!!!! In my 1300+ miles traveled since last Saturday, I've listened to audiobooks (Bridget Jones' Diary (author?) and Teacher Man by Frank McCourt ... so far) they make the drive go so much faster!

It appears I have a new possible romance ... but I'm nervous about this ... perhaps because the potential seriousness is a bit surprising ... and a bit scary to me.

At RuralSchool, I met a Former Student there, who has just graduated in the program I'm entering. At my last lesson, I ended up running into him because he's still in the area ... and he gave me his phone number, asking me to call if I had any questions at all about the program or the area. (I met him on the day of my audition 2 months ago ... and thought he was attractive ... :-))

I called FS last week to ask if he wanted to get together earlier this week when I'd be visiting the town again. Delighted, he said, "Sure!" and he didn't even mind that I wanted his help finding a place to live for the next year.

After my lesson on Monday, we drove around and got phone numbers for all the places with "For Rent" signs ... We drove all around town, enjoying pleasant conversation as I got to know the area better. Then we drove to a neighboring town from which other students commute to RuralSchool. We passed a silly little miniature golf course which I pointed out to him, and he told me he'd never gone mini-golfing! I asked if he wanted to go, and he said, "Why not?" So ... we mini-golfed (and I beat him by one point). :-) Then we decided to get dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant in town ... more good conversation there. (He paid!)

After dinner, we headed back to RuralSchool area and he asked if I wanted to go for a walk on the paved trail along a river. It was still light outside, nearing twilight, and I agreed as I still had a little time to spend here before I needed to head back to where I was staying for the night.

We lazily walked down the trail, passing some other folks who were pausing to gaze at the water. We reached a small bridge, and FS suggested we walk down closer to the creek. He helped me down (I was wearing flipflops) ... and we stood on rocks at the water's edge. After reveling for a few moments in the serenity, he helped me back up to the path. Twilight was now upon us, and we spent a few moments trying to catch fireflies before heading back to the car at the end of the trail.

As we began walking, I heard a rumble in the distance. I asked if he thought it was thunder, but he fiured it might be a loud truck as we weren't far from the road.

A few moments later, it rumbled again. This time, there was no question that it was thunder. A flash of lightning in the sky and more thunder. No rain yet. We started to walk faster. One drop, then two more ... and then I put on the sweater he'd gotten for me from his house. Now it was lightly raining. OK. Then it began to pick up ... and there was more lightning and more thunder. At one particularly offending clap of thunder, I linked my arm in his, a gesture more instinctive than flirtatious, and we hurried faster. The fireflies had hidden themselves, the sky was dark, and the trees overhead made it seem even darker. Still, we laughed as we hurried along ~ what an adventure!

"You're never going to forget this!" He told me as we dashed along the path.

When we reached the edge of the path, my car was parked on the other side of the grassy bank. Without any warning, he hoisted me up and carried me over the mud to my car.

We drove back to his house where he retrieved a towel for me. He was trying to get me to stay longer, but I refused to change into the dry clothes he offered to get for me. As I was slightly chilled by the rain, he made tea for both of us. I couldn't linger after finishing my tea ... and I knew I needed to get back to my friend's house, an hour drive away. We parted ways, promising to meet up the next day.

After spending the morning with my friend (where I was staying), I drove back to the RuralSchool area. I returned FS's towel, and then we drove around some more to another nearby town to see if they had any apartments for rent. (We didn't see any, but I enjoyed the excuse to drive around and converse.)

He asked if I wanted to see the other end of the trail because we hadn't traveled the full 3 miles. We drove to the other end of the trail ... and ended up walking past a picnic area to an unmarked trail in the woods ... where we ended up sitting on a log, gazing over the water, still under the cover of the trees, and talking ...

As much as I would have liked to have lingered there longer ... I knew I needed to get on the road, as I had 5-6 hours of driving ahead of me. As we made our way along the makeshift path to the clearing, he guided me by the hand ... and we kept holding hands even after we'd reached steady ground, dropping them only when we reached the car. Then in the car on the way back to his house, I jokingly reached over, maybe to slap his hand for a teasing remark or something ... and he held my hand for the remainder of the brief trip.

Text messages and phone calls have been exchanged since then ... and he'd even requested that I let him know when I reached my destination that evening. (Same thing my mother does .) :-)

Alas, he will not be in town when I have my next lesson ... but when I return early next month, he'll be there ... so ... my life as a romantic comedy is to be continued ... :-)