Oh, what we do when we're young and inexperienced! When I was 16 or 17 years old (a Junior at High School), I was sitting in Latin class and I noticed a highly energetic, intelligent young woman in the class. The first time I *really* noticed her, she was wearing black pants and a light yellow blouse. She was freckled and had short, dark, curly hair. She wore braces. She was short and slightly plump. She was kicking her feet under her desk (school was constricting, for her). I thought she was the greatest.
I somehow told her that I liked her. She said that that was nice, but she wanted only to be friends. Friends are great to have, but I wanted *more*. We talked on the phone sometimes. I think the longest conversation could have been a couple of hours. We both liked to read, and shared some favorite authors. I love science fiction. She, on the other hand, seemed to like biographies best. She had a sister who was a couple of years younger than herself, and they seemed close. She had the traditional two parents.
She once told me that she was a member of an organization called "Mensa". I found out later that this organization accepts only people in the top 2% of IQ. She said that she was in a special interest group of Mensa which dealt with auras. She said that she could *see* auras. (Auras are apparently some kind of electromagnetic field which living things emanate. Some say they can see them as a brightness around living things, especially people, and that their brightness and color vary according to emotion, health, etc.)
Since then I've found that when I notice someone with a certain energy, I can make a quite accurate guess that this person is of a high intelligence (as measured by IQ). I find these vivacious women to be quite attractive. This girl was also a musician. I've noticed since then that women I'm attracted to often turn out to have some musical (or artistic) inclinations.
I asked her to dance with me a few times. I am not sure whether we did, because she was often volunteering to assist at these High School dances. (I love to dance, by the way.) At one dance I particularly remember, she was talking about chest pains. She was asthmatic, but she seemed to not be in any danger.
We went on as friends until I left the Pottstown area to go to college at Drexel University. In my Senior year (her Junior year), she asked me to go to the prom with her. I instantly agreed. This was with the understanding that we were still "just friends". We had a good time. We stayed until late. (They keep these things until late to discourage drinking/sex/etc afterwards.) That morning, I took my SAT's and got quite a high score.
She currently lives in another state, is married, and has a child (perhaps children, by now). I am honored to have known her, and it was a good time of my life.
I keenly regret that I was so "stuck" on her. I received inquiries (some quite strong) from other girls regarding dating, but I stayed "with" this other girl.
Why would someone limit himself to a girl who is basically unavailable for dating? Well, for one thing, I thought she was the *best*. It's hard to settle for something which one considers second rate. Now that I've matured a bit, however, I realize that no one particular woman is "the best", but that we each have some excellent characteristics and some less excellent characteristics.
Another reason that I limited myself to the pursuit of only her was that I said I was a "one woman man". This is still somewhat true for me, as I have difficulty in pursuing a romantic relationship with more than one woman at a time. However, I am fairly certain that I will never again limit myself to a relationship which is obviously going nowhere.
Perhaps, one reason I "stayed" with her was inertia or fear. As long as things remained as they were, I didn't feel pressured to make efforts to find a *true* girlfriend. I didn't have to face rejection, as this girl *liked* me, just not as a boyfriend.
Sometimes, I wonder what my romantic life would have been like back then if I had "played the field". I think High School is a good place to find romance. The numbers of women and men are practically equal. Dating can be less serious. Many of these people have known each other for years already. In addition, dating someone from high school is usually appropriate. (Dating someone from some other situations may not be appropriate, such as some workplace romances.) Of course, there is always the problem of hormones to counter some of these positive factors!
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