"It"

I'm back! If you're reading this, chances are you read my first post "Hello!". That being the case, I shall now address what "it" is, (or was, technically).

It. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

It. It sits in the back of my head, dying to be shared.

It. It was...unforgettable.

During my high school years, just like any other teenager, I had crushes. Many. Well, most of them were during my sophomore year, but I would jump from girl to girl, silently admiring them from a distance. Of course, I never actually did anything about it, but they each impacted my life. I won't be writing about all of them; just those who made the most difference. The first girl was Rylan. I met her during my sophomore year while rehearsing for our musical review that the drama department put on every spring.

(These stories will be told in the form of a present or past tense flashback (depending on my mood), and will be typed in italics just to clear up some confusion.)

"Freak, this 40 year-old seminary teacher can dance better than I can," I mumble quietly to myself. My back begins to ache as I hunch halfway over in the group of nearly 30 kids that surround me. We're all squished together for this part of the song, trying in vain not to succumb to our closet claustrophobia.

The girl in front of me chuckles lightly, saying, "I know right? He's 25 years older than me, and I still suck at doing this."

My head jerks up, her reply catching me by surprise. I'm met with a small smile and multi-colored eyes staring back at me. My breath catches in my throat when I realize how close in proximity we are to one another. Her light brown hair falls across the back of her faded pink dress as she looks over her shoulder.

I glance around us before lowering my voice a tad, "To be completely honest, I've always sucked at dancing. And anything that involves, well, body movement or flexibility." I laugh at my own expense, hoping to break the already-thin ice.

She grins. "Me too. It's embarrassing." We continue the conversation easily throughout rehearsal, both tuning out the instructor and his directions as we joke about our lack of coordination.

Before long, our choreographer yells "Okay, kids! Good work today! I'll see you all on Wednesday, and don't be late!" The majority of the kids move backstage, gathering their supplies before heading home. I scan the crowd, looking for the familiar face. 

There. She's talking to a wiry girl whom I recognize as a friend of my younger sister, James. I walk over to them, devising a way to introduce myself without being completely awkward about it. When I reach them, they both look up at me expectantly.

"So," I begin casually, "I noticed that you have the same last name as someone in my grade. She wouldn't happen to be your sister, now would she?" At the start of the rehearsal, our instructor had taken roll, and miraculously, I remembered the small girl's name. Rylan. She's the same age as my sister.

The corner of her mouth tugs upward as she replies, "Yes, she is. And I believe you have a sister in my grade, correct?"  

I raise my hands in defense. "Guilty," I grin. I direct my next words at the small girl next to Rylan. "It's Whitney, right? You're James' friend. I've seen you hanging out with her before." 

"Yep," she smiles warmly, "We have the same group of friends, so I've seen her around before." 

"Well, you might already know this, but I'm Alex," I extend my hand to her, going for the formal approach. 

"Whitney," she takes my hand gently. I turn to Rylan, expecting her to do the same. 

"Rylan," she laughs, gripping my outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same," I say, smiling. I get the feeling this is the beginning of great friendship.


There you have it. the first time I met Ry. You'll probably get the low-down on her in my next few posts, so you'll have to wait and see what happens. :) Thanks for reading! I'll post more later!

Hello!

Alright! First things first; I'm very new to all of this blogger-stuff, so forgive me if I sound like an idiot on the internet trying to carry a blog. From what I understand, a blog is basically about your life/whatever you want it to be, right? Well, true to its name, mine is going to be full of mindless ramblings. I'm warning you now: you will probably hear about certain people more than once, hence my giving you an opportunity to turn back now while you still can. Otherwise, enjoy. 

Once upon a time...Ew. Nevermind. Forget that.

As I was growing up, I always lived a very -to put it lightly- sheltered life. Raised in a devout LDS family and community, I saw life a little differently than most kids. Or should I say we. All of the kids I grew up with also lived a little differently. Sure, life was fairly normal; go to school, play with my friends, the usual. But the main difference was that there wasn't exactly a real sense of danger there. There were rarely ever crimes committed, and if so, they were lighter crimes such as shoplifting or robbing a store. I could walk down to the park by myself at age 10. The same goes with anything that has to do with maturing/growing up in this big, bad world of ours. I didn't have "the talk" until I was 14, and didn't even understand it until I was 16. Yeah, I watched the news with my parents, even as a kid (no judgement), but it all seemed so surreal to me that such terrible things actually happened.

So yes, you could say I was an innocent child.

Anywho, none of this stopped me from this insatiable need to know. I had this urge to fill my head with anything and everything I possibly could, leading me to an open-mindedness that I wasn't used to seeing. You see, fortunately, the majority of the community shared my beliefs and standards. Unfortunately, as a result of said mutual beliefs, not many people were as open to (and I say this with the utmost respect) opinions that clashed with their own.

Now don't get me wrong; none of them were prejudiced or outwardly hostile towards those who were, per se, but it had been instilled into my brain that I should grow up thinking certain things, acting a certain way...that type of thing.

Wow. Now I really am rambling. My whole purpose for this blog is to share some experiences I've had the past few years. For some odd reason, putting it all out there just feels so much better than keeping it inside.

What is "it", you may ask? Now that is a completely different story.