Blasts from the past
By The Feminist
A few days ago, I received a facebook chat from my summer fling of 2006. I had met him at Topsail Beach and continued to meet him whenever my family decided to come back again, each time resulting in my un-classiest of moments that I later on regretted. Throughout the past three years, he has been the awkward bystander who I continually run into and continually try to avoid. I had not talked to him for almost two years. That is, until now.
It started with him stating that he had read my op/ed article in the newspaper, and that he had found it entertaining and a good-read. Under normal circumstances I would have ignored his comments altogether, but, as we all know, I am quite partial to flattery. Thus, I responded and before I knew it, I had agreed to go out for lunch the next day with him at Luly’s Café.
I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t afraid of the chance of any inner feelings being brought to life, (mainly because I don’t remember any solid emotions for him in the first place) I was just interested. I had a chance to reestablish myself as a different person from the naïve and easily persuaded sixteen year-old girl of my past. I had the ability to show off characteristics that I did not have before: I had more confidence now, more knowledge and insight, more insusceptible to lies, even a different style of dress. What I didn’t expect, however, was that he might have changed just as much as I had as well.
Once there, we talked over Cuban sandwiches and espresso coffee, swapped stories, shared experiences, laughed over our youth, and surprisingly, I had a great time. Who knew that the overly cocky and arrogant kid with a surfboard was now practically a man? I’m not going to lie- I was kind of impressed. Now, I had made it a rule for myself a long time ago that I would never do repeats. That is, I would never go for the same boy more than once because my theory was that if it did not work out the first time, it is never going to work out. Unfortunately, I have not been very diligent with this.
This blast from the past was a definite grade-A jerk that every girl should avoid then…but what about now? Could I persuade myself against the contrary by a couple of hours in a small café? I decided to test it out. I spent the day with him, and then the next day, and then the night after that. All days he did not make a move, though the flirtation was clear. This was a considerable difference from the old him, which would have pounced on any sitting duck who was within 10 yards of him or his bed. Then, on the third night of us hanging out, he busted a move. And then came another situation that I was not expecting. Back when I was 15 and highly inexperienced, I could distinctly remember him be very suave and an amazing kisser. Three years of action later….I came to realize that his skills had stayed static, while mine had risen considerably. All of a sudden, all the suppressed emotions and sexual attraction that I had been feeling towards him went caput. It is amazing how long it takes for a person to like another when a single move can quickly turn one completely off. Turns out, a blast from the past is exactly that- sudden and spontaneously satisfying, but brief and fleeting at the same time.
