There was this one girl..

I tell this story to all my friends so why not share it with you? Lol... There was this one girl i once knew who changed my life forever and i don't even think she knows it. As a matter of fact, i KNOW she doesn't know it, and she may never know...but that's the beauty of it..

When i was in the 8th grade, i played on this recreational basketball team and we had our practices at the local high school. As practice was coming to an end, i stood on the sideline, both hands on my knees, bent over and tired from running suicides. I looked back, then quickly forward again because what i had seen, i wasnt't quite sure if i believed it. The girl that i saw standing there was perfection. Her skin was brown, her hair was long and her figure was slim....she had on a red shirt and basketball shorts and still managed to somehow literally stun me. As soon as i gained my consciousness back, i walked over to a friend of mine named Joe and said 'AYE MAN, DID YOU SEE THAT ONE GIRL WIT THE RED SHIRT AND LONG HAIR STANDIN OVER THERE A MINUTE AGO?' He said 'Yea, that's ________ she stay in my apartments..' I thought God himself had personally set this situation up, as it had seemed PERFECT. Not to mention, i was always posted at Joe's house anyway...he asked me if i wanted him to put in the word for me and i hastily said 'HELL YEA!'

To fast forward, high school came around and here i am, this freshman kid with this larger-than-life crush on a sophomore girl. What was i to do? I knew i had to make some kinda move, i mean c'mon, this is BIG BAD HIGH SCHOOL we're talkin about! By this time, she had already knew who i was and we exchanged a few words, being that my best friend and her lived in the same apartment complex. Anyway...one day...it was a Saturday, and i know this because i'll never ever forget this day of my life...my brother and his girlfriend (now wife) picked me up from Joe's house. I had of course already told my brother about this girl because i needed some sorta advice as to what to do. But on this Saturday...he somehow came up with the foolish idea of me knocking on her door and giving her a rose. I quickly shut that idea down! Never in a million years would i have ever thought to do that....but infatuation can make you do some crazy things...after about an hour of pacing back and forth, and overbearing pressure from my brother, his girlfriend AND Joe, i decided to go ahead and just do it...that's how bad i wanted her. At that point, nothing mattered, as long as i knew at the end of the day, i would be on her mind.

The nervous me, laced up my Jordan 11's, took a deep breath, and walked towards her door. I knocked three 3 times, stood back and looked towards my brother's truck where they all sat in there and looked on, as they seemed nervous for me themselves. I lightly knocked again and there she was, she answered the door. Being the bashful and shy person she was, she looked surprised to see that it was me that showed up to her front door. I handed her the rose and said...and i dont even know why i'm tellin yall this lol...i said "I just wanted to give you this to let you know that i've been thinkin about you." She said 'awwww, thanks!' I was so nervous and i tried to get outta there as soon as i could! So i just said 'Yea...well, umm, my brother is waiting for me so i gotta go..'. She simply and sweetly said 'bye' while looking at the rose in her hand, and i hurried up and walked back to my brother's car...

So that was that and i finally began to make 'progress' with this girl. I was proud of myself for doin what i had done, but i knew i had to follow up with something else. I eventually ended up settin up a date to go to the movies and she agreed to it. My brother, who was equally excited as i was about everything, took me to Macy's and bought me a brand new Rocawear outfit to wear to the movies that Friday. So now that i looked the part, i had to know what to say. And back then, i wasn't a FRACTION of the person i am now....i had no clue at all what to say to this beautiful and seemingly unattainable girl. Our first date didn't go so well because the whole time i was thinking to myself 'I hope I'm doing alrite..'. Not to mention i had NO CLUE about women or how to talk to them...

After that awkward movie date, we didn't talk much for the remainder of that school year...towards the end of my sophomore year we started to be cool again and i had the golden opportunity to make something happen. I never was successful in my attempt though...i was always tryna think of the 'perfect' thing to do, or the 'perfect' thing to say to a girl that i looked at as perfect. I tried to adjust myself to be what i thought she would like. That was where i failed. I was young and didn't know myself to be the person i am today. It took me having to go through that to learn that being yourself is all that you'll ever need in life. Applying what i learned about women to the rest of my life has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. I took what i learned from the situation with Her and i ran with it. Nobody can be you better than YOU can, and people can always tell when you're not being true. So to that one girl whom i crushed on so hard, i want you to know that the lesson i learned from you was a lesson that changed my life and has helped shape the person i am now. Thank you.