Slowly but surely I’m getting into stories about the phase of my life which included drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll. In the 8th grade I had my first girlfriend.
At some point in the life of most boys, his hormones start to take control. When this happens, it more or less prevents any logical thought processes. I think poets call this ‘love’ or ‘falling in love’. When I was in the 8th grade, this happened to me for the first time.
The object of my desire was a cute little gal named Eleanor. She was indeed a swearheart. She was a really, really nice girl. After weeks of not being brave enough to speak to her, I dared to chat with her. We spoke during breaks in school and at lunchtime more and more often. After a while we were ‘going together’.
The highlight of this love affair was a garden party at Tom Pappas’ house shortly before the end of the school year. We slipped away from the others and hugged and kissed. Wow! That was amazing!
Unfortunately, Eleanor’s older brother was very athletic. He played on both the high school baseball and basketball teams. He may have also been on the track team. I think he kept suggesting to Eleanor that she find a more athletic boyfriend.
I was never very athletic. I inherited my mother’s sort of lopsided hips. When I was young, every once in a while my knee would pop out of joint, too. I was born with extremely flat feet. Instead of having arches, my feet were flat as pancakes. I wore special dress shoes with built in arches while I was in grade school. During gym class I had to wear tennis shoes, which didn’t have the built in arches. So I wasn’t the fastest runner in gym class. When I ran, it was a lot like someone wearing swim fins running.
At the end of the school year, Eleanor must have found a more athletic boyfriend, because she told me she didn’t want to ‘go with me’ any longer. She never actually gave a reason for this, but since she had a very close relationship with her brother, who wasn’t fond of me, I can only assume that was the reason. I was very sad, because I enjoyed our conversations and, even more, kissing her.