I met the love of my life when I was twenty years old. Unfortunately, for me, I had just gotten over my one big break up. That meant, I almost let the girl of my dreams slip through my fingers.

I had first heard about her a few days before our initial encounter. I was riding in a car with two friends of mine named Phillip and Audrey. Somehow, the conversation got turned to a friend of Audrey's named Eden. She described her friend as being very intelligent and spoke of how she intedned to bring her over soon to meet all of our friends.

I was, and still am, a tremendous romantic. I was hoping for something a little more special when I met her, something other than a standard night of hanging out with several of my friends. However, I have come to realize that the life we have come to share means significantly more than our humble meeting.

The day started out innocently enough. no immediate tell-tale signs that the day where I met my future love was at hand. I cannot remember the time before I went to my friend Chris's and we were all gathered around Chris's main television playing an x-box game.

Soon after we began hanging out, there was a knock at the back door. Phillip then opened it and led Audrey and a strange blond woman into the room, whom I naturally assumed was Eden. Audrey then introduced her, confirming my suspicions. When the newcomer entered the room, she quickly went to chris's cat. Though it quickly became apparent to her, that Kitty was far less loving than his outward nature led her to believe.

I soon left the game I was playing to go sit by this new attractive girl. Nobody else was sitting by her yet and I thought it would be a good opportunity to make conversation. From far away, Eden was cute, but once I got closer I saw how attractive she truly was. She had long blond hair and a stunning face. I didn't get to see much of her body, because it was winter and everyone was bundled up. She was obviously a shy person, as she didn't respond much to conversation. There, I put a video game in the nearby system and offered to play it with her, as an opportunity to break the ice.

The game was fun for a bit, until she got this crazy notion that I shot her character in the game. I informedd her that this was certainly not possible and she was clearly mistaken. Shortly after this, Audrey and Phillip prepared to leave taking their newcomer with them. She exchanged a blanket goodbye with the group and they left. Inwardly, I was cursing myself due to not acquiring he phone number or other contact information. I became sullen at the thoughts of the opportunity that I had probably missed.

Little did I know, that the opportunity had simply been delayed, and the beautiful, shy, stranger would end up being the one I planned on spending my life with.

The First Encounter

My senior year was a dreary time. I was lost in the chasm between highschool student and young adult. I was leary of the responsibilities which I knew loomed ahead of me. Most importantly, I was afraid to let go of everything I had ever known.  However, that was the year I met him--the one I had dreamt of for so long.

 Ever since I was a little girl, I envisioned the day I would meet my special someone.The day he would no longer be a blurred image inside my mind.  He would be: charming, funny, handsome, strong, brave, cunning, ect. The list of idyllic traits was practically endless. I wanted Mr. Perfect  and I wanted him fast! Above all,  I promised myself two things-- 1.) He would not be in the military, because I did not want to be without him for long periods of time and 2.) I would not wait until college to find him, because I did not want to be another statistic. I wanted to prove young love was possible.  

Well, twenty-four boyfriends and countless unrequited romantic endeavors later, I found him. However, it was too late for the highschool sweetheart I had dreamt of. Instead, I had to settle for a near miss my senior year. His name was Brent. He was the typical friend of a friend's friend.

In November of 2008, I rode with a dear friend and her boyfriend to their friend's house. The three of us walked through the back gate and entered a room with little decoration. Gathered around two televisions and various game systems was a group of boys, a tomboy, and a cat.

Being shy, I decided to go for the cat, which,  perhaps was not the wisest choice. The cat clawed me and turned out less friendly than the brown-haired young man seated nearby. He smiled at me and warned me that such behavior was, 'Kitty's way of playing.' Then, he challenged me to a video game. Unfortunately, it was a shooter game. I explained my lack of skill, but was ignored. He, the tomboy, and I teamed up for a game. Still, the moment I moved my character in front of his, he shot me.

" You killed me!", I exclaimed, my voice bitter with accusation.

" It wasn't me!", he replied with a charmingly sly grin.

I said nothing more. How could I? I was hooked!

I began to inspect him from head to toe. His eyes dark and deep and his hair a mass of straight chestnut locks. His fingers long and graceful like a pianist's. His skin ghostly pale, and his body tall and lean. His lazy eye was a small detractor but not enough to dismiss either the intelligence or the beauty of the whole man.

To my astonishment, he addressed me by name before I left.  My friend pointed out how sharp he was to remember my name after only hearing it once. I agreed. There was no formal goodbye. I told the entire group how nice it had been to meet them. However, while there were at least five guys present, I had only learned the name of one: Brent.