On a more serious note

3/29/2010 bekah 1 Comments

It makes me very happy that most of our readers think our blog is funny. I'm glad people relate to all the crazy dating experiences we've had. Some may question why it is we only post our negative experiences. The blog is titled the Anti-Austen after all. In a world where the pressure to get married is so great, sometimes it's just easier to tell about our funny/horrific experiences. I've been in some amazing relationships that haven't worked out for one reason or another.

So, dear readers, would you like to hear a sappy story for a change? It may not be as funny. But it's almost as good as P&P as far as epic love stories go.

Sometimes I worry that my standards are too high, through no fault of Jane Austen's.



Let's rewind the clocks almost a year ago. I was trying to get over a boy (as the story usual goes). I'd been his friend-girl; the substitute girlfriend, while his "real" girlfriend was attending the another university. He messed me up pretty good.But I was moving along ok. The one person who really helped me through it all was Mr. Advice.
Mr. Advice was a bit of a hippie. Despite this fact, everyone I knew absolutely loved him. He was the guy we all went to for advice(hence the name).
School let out, and Mr. Advice and I spent more and more time together. I was 19, and he was 25. Quite the age difference. He took care of me, looked out for me, gave me advice. But at the same time, he knew my potential, and what I was capable of. This is important for our male readers! So take note! I'm about to reveal a huge secret: Women want to be taken care of, but at the same time, they want the men they are dating to recognize the powerful abilities that they have to do almost anything.

I never understood before what it was like to talk to someone for hours and never run out of things to say. But he and I were like that. And we weren't even dating! We were just friends. I would stay out at all hours of the night just talking to him on the bench outside our apartment.
Pretty soon I realized that he had feelings for me. I could see it in the way he looked at me. Do you know this look dear reader? It is my most sincere hope that everyone know what it feels like to be looked at like this. Of course there was admiration and respect in his eyes. But there was this awe. He seemed so amazed sometimes just to be in my presence. And it wasn't like I ever did anything extraordinary. He would just look at me like that when I laughed, or said something silly. Or got mad. He looked at me that way all the time.
I was leaving in the Fall for a study abroad, and I figured nothing would happen between the two of us until the end of the summer, with the thought of my leaving him as a catalyst for any action he might take. But no. Things moved much more quickly than I ever expected.

Mr. Advice lived 45 minutes away. I expressly forbade him from driving down to see me anymore that weekend because I knew he couldn't afford it. But after church, I was sitting outside on the phone, and he came marching up the staircase of my complex.
He immediately ordered me off of the phone and told me we were to go for a walk. We barely made it around the corner of my complex before he said we'd gone far enough. And he collapsed on a shady patch of grass right next to the building.

He was so nervous and seemed absolutely petrified. I was worried someone died. I asked him if he was ok. Now I know he was just terrified for what he was about to say.

"I like you. I really like you. It's incredible actually." This is an actual quote that he said. How's that for an epic declaration? The rest is paraphrasing, but more or less what he said.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I'm sorry I didn't put my arm around you that night we went to the movies. I'm sorry I didn't put my arm around you that night we hiked the Y and you were cold. You're amazing. And I thought when we went to Salt Lake that all we would talk about that day was that other guy. But we didn't. And I like that fact that people thought we were dating, and that they called you my "girl" and neither of us corrected them. And I don't care if you don't like me. But I just had to tell you. I couldn't be around you and hold it in anymore."
He poured out his soul to me for about five minutes. I just sat there, shocked. I knew he liked me, but I had no idea such an ardent declaration of his affection was coming any time soon. I somehow squeaked out a simple, "I like you too" after he was done. There was no passionate kiss that followed. Or even a warm embrace. He simply put his arm around me, and we held hands for the rest of the afternoon.
And so began the best summer of my life.

So what happened with me and Mr. Advice? Well, reader, if you've stuck with me this far, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm afraid that's much too personal to divulge.
That's why we write our funny stories on this blog. Because sometimes the good stories are still too personal to re-live.
I'm over Mr. Advice now. He's engaged to be married. Congratulations to the both of them. I'm happy he's happy. We turned out not to be right for each other. But with such a standard as my first boyfriend, it's going to be very difficult to expect anything less from any other man. And it's not any fault of Jane's.

I've come to the conclusion that happy stories are good to post sometimes. Stay tuned readers. I might just post the exciting story of my first kiss sometime.

xoxo
-The Romantic