The One True Love

I met Billy in high school when we were freshmen. I remember when he walked into my math class. He had on a black T-shirt, tight white pants, and black shoes with no socks. You could tell he thought he was Mr. Cool by the way he strutted in. I looked at him when he passed by. He sat three seats behind my friend Dee and me. He tried to talk to us, so we ignored him. During class, he would throw paper balls at us, which made us mad. When class was over, Billy walked up to me. He said something smart, so I kicked him on the knee and he kicked me back. I thought that was so mean of him. My friend Dee said, “I think he likes you,” I said, “Well, I don’t like him. I can’t believe he kicked me back.”

My friend Dee started dating Billy not long after they met. She told me later that Billy wasn’t her type and that she had stopped dating him. She said, “He likes you.” I said, “Really.”

Billy and I had several classes together that year. We started dating off and on. We would break up to make up. It was like puppy love.

At the end of the tenth grade, I had to quit school because I found out I was pregnant with Billy’s baby. I told him that I was pregnant, that we needed to get married right away. Billy said, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes I am.”