Don’t worry; you’ll love me one day

I wrote this awhile ago, and now I feel like it's completely embarrassing and cheesey; perhaps worthy of a "Chicken Soup for the soul" book but I thought I'd post it for the hell of it. It was inspired by Eisley’s song “Telescope Eyes”

I had known Peter Brambleton since birth. He was my next door neighbor, our white houses identical in the suburb of Roanoke, Virginia. Our mothers were friends and we were often placed together to entertain ourselves while they talked, knitted or did any other type of stay-at-home mom activity. We played together, made mud pies together, and even made an elaborate plan to take over the world together. We were unstoppable. We were best friends all through preschool and elementary school, before lines were crossed; when gender didn’t matter and friendship wasn’t determined by what you had. Peter was an adorable little boy. He had jet black hair, freckles and bright blue eyes, but what I loved best about him was his personality; he loved everyone, never judged and above all else was the most selfless person I knew.

However, when we hit middle school, and or puberty, things changed. I became obsessed with popularity. I read seventeen magazine, learned to put on gobs of makeup and tried out for the cheerleading squad. I thought I was hot stuff. I began hanging out with the rest of the cheerleaders and the jock cronies. I was too good for Peter now, and I let him know it. One day during the seventh grade, he came up to me in the hallway. I was with Mindy, the head cheerleader who was basically my idol. “Hey Annie! I haven’t talked to you in awhile, what’s been going on”. I looked up at him and combed my newly manicured fingers through my newly bleached blonde hair, and took in the sight of him. He was taller, gangly, with acne, braces and huge black wayfarer glasses, he wore a white oxford and khaki slacks. I simply scoffed and said, “Who are you?” He looked taken a back and a bit hurt, his bright blue eyes shining, but quickly shook it off and said “Don’t worry Annie, you’ll love me one day.” Mindy looked down at me and said “Who was that freak? Do you know him?” I blushed and said “No, I have no idea; he must be stalking me or something”. I was hurt by it all, because Peter was important to me; he always had been, and I knew I had hurt him, but I wanted to be popular, so I brushed it off.

Most of my next five years were spent ignoring Peter. He persisted in trying to get me to notice him, and it was kind of flattering but I mean, he had telescope eyes, metal teeth, and I knew I couldn’t be seen with him. It made me cry though, and I was certain it made him feel terrible, Peter didn’t have many friends at school as it was, and I remembered all of the good times we had together. He would often find any excuse to come over to my house and see what I was doing. He would call and ask random questions that were supposedly asked by him mother, but I knew he was just looking for an excuse to talk to me. He even asked me to prom during our senior year. He came up to me in the hallway, I hadn’t been very close to him in a few years, and I noticed how he wasn’t gangly anymore and his acne had cleared up. I felt a pang in my stomach when he walked up to me; I loved him, and always had. Why did I have to care what other people thought? “Annie, I just wondered if you had a date to prom, because well, I miss you, and we used to have so much fun together.” He looked hopeful, those bright blue eyes sparkling, I had to admit he was cute and I just wanted to hug him and tell him I had always loved him and that I was sorry for being a complete bitch to him throughout the years. Instead, my bitch instincts came out, I was still shallow and terrible, and I said “Peter, you know I’m dating the quarterback, I can’t go to prom with you.” He looked downcast again and then whispered in my ear “Anne, I know you are better than these people, one day, you’ll love me again” and walked away. I ran into the bathroom and cried silent tears for a good hour.

It was our graduation day. We were all gathered around after the ceremony, hugging, crying and saying how much we would miss each other. I was headed for the University of Oklahoma, really far from home. Peter was headed to Virginia Tech on a full scholarship. He came up to me and said “I’ll miss you Annie; I hope you have fun next year and just remember you’re going love me one day.” He smiled and walked away. I was stunned. My then quarterback boyfriend came up behind me and picked me up and twirled me around, but all I could think about was Peter.

I tried to contact Peter a lot that summer, but his mother told me he was in Florida doing research for his upcoming school year, he wouldn’t be back until after I left for Oklahoma. So I left for school without seeing him.

I didn’t come home until Christmas break. I was happy to be home, and I noticed a black car pull up to Peter’s house. A guy got out of the driver’s seat, he was really good looking, jet black hair that waved a bit on top, tall, and really well dressed in a pea coat and jeans that hinted at designer origins. I walked out to see who it was, acting like I was getting the mail. I knew when I looked into his eyes, those familiar breathtaking blue eyes; Peter’s eyes. “Annie! Wow how have you been?” He said walking over to me. I stood, stunned, he looked at me for a bit, as if wondering if I was ok. All I could manage to do was start crying and say “Oh, Peter, I am so sorry! I’ve been such a bitch to you for so long, and you’ve been nothing but good to me, when I don’t deserve it at all. You were right all along! I’ve always loved you! I was just too stupid and shallow to admit it! I just want to tell you how sorry I am for being so terrible!” Peter smiled down and me took my face in his hands and said “I have always loved you and I told you, you’d love me one day.” And then he planted a kiss on me that even the gods were probably jealous of.

I am happy to say that I have been married to Peter for a year now. We are expecting our first child in June. I hope everyday that that child will grow up to be just like their father, loving, and kind and above all else, forgiving. I didn’t deserve Peter, but I’m so glad that he chose me, the awful girl who took too long to grow up.