I Will Not Take My Love Away Chapter 3: Colorado and a First Date

Chapter 1 Here

Chapter 2 Here

So there I was, a college Freshman, spending my days daydreaming about a guy I had never met in real life and my evenings glued to my computer screen hanging on the words he typed to me. I'd still only seen a small picture of him that my friend Tara had shown me and I am pretty sure he had never seen a single picture of me at this time. Crazy to think about it, but we had such a connection that it didn't even matter to us that we hadn't met. 

About two weeks into our friendship Shawn and a few of his guy friends packed up and drove to Colorado to go skiing. Neither Shawn nor I had a cell phone so we knew it would be really hard for us to keep in touch that week he was gone. I couldn't believe how much I missed our daily conversations on the computer and over the phone. I couldn't believe how much I missed him. 

One evening my dorm room phone rang and to my great surprise it was Shawn. He had borrowed one of the guys' cellphones to call me. The relief I felt in hearing his voice told me that maybe just maybe there was something real happening between us. We couldn't talk long because we were using the guy's minutes but every second was absolutely wonderful. I was giddy when I hung up the phone. Giddy! I might have squealed and ran to tell my roommates he had called. I mean, if a guy calls you from a ski trip in Colorado it has to be something, right?

It wasn't long before Tara was setting up our first date. It worked out that since both Tara and Shawn's parents still lived in Eldon that we would meet there. I would go home with Tara for the weekend and Shawn and I would go on a date that Friday night. He would take me back to Tara's and I'd spend the rest of the weekend at her house. I probably spent five hours trying to figure out what to wear for our first date. I vividly remember standing in my dorm room sifting through all my clothes until I found the perfect outfit. I ended up in my favorite jeans, a white tank top and white cardigan. It totally sounds boring right now, but in 2002 it was the height of fashion, ha! I think *gasp* I might have even worn white sandals, but I can't be sure on that one. 

Tara and I left as soon as our classes were done on Friday and made the long drive to Eldon. All the while I knew that I would be meeting Shawn in person for the first time. We talked the whole way there about the situation and how nervous I was. The miles went by so slowly and at the same time soooo fast. I was ready to meet him but I was a bundle of nervous energy. It seemed like we had gone about everything backwards. Aren't you supposed to meet first and then spend all your time getting to know someone? Here we were both feeling like we knew the other and yet had never met. 

We pulled up to the high school (our designated point of meeting and Tara's place of dropping me off to go on a date with a guy I had never met) and she showed me his car. She pulled up right behind it and his door opened. I stepped out of her car and . . .

Stay tuned for Chapter 4: The Date