It was my junior year of high school, and a new student arrives at study hall. He’s also in my gym class.
The word around school was that he was a “narc” (an undercover cop). As I watched him, I began to realize that he did look a little older than your typical high school student. And when the rest of us were huffing and puffing through the obligatory mile run in gym class, he did it with ease – running BACKWARD!
One day at the end of class he asked me to go on a date with him. “I’ll pick you up on Friday at 6,” he says, “and wear a dress!”
At 6 pm on the dot, he shows up at my door. He is wearing a tie and I’m in my favorite dress.
He walks me to his car … and he is driving my FAVORITE car!
He opens the door … and there are a dozen roses on the seat!
There is music playing in the car … by my favorite musician – Harry Connick Jr.
(How did he know these things?!)
Then, he takes me one of the nicest restaurants in Tampa.
Before this evening, the fanciest restaurant I’d ever been to was the Olive Garden.
He orders appetizers and glasses of wine for both us. I’m 16. I’d never had wine. I had one sip to be polite but discreetly poured out the rest when we went out to the balcony to take in the sweeping view of the city.
We had a delicious dinner and it was the absolute, most perfect date! While every other girl my age had dates that included dinner at Taco Bell and a movie; I was driven in a sports car, given a dozen roses, listening to my favorite music, and eating the best food in town — and all of this with I guy who was like my own personal Liam Neeson! This guy blew all the other guys out of the water.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel a bit of connection with him. I can’t even remember what we talked about. I wished I would have asked more questions about what he does “outside of school” … but he didn’t share any of that with me. We just had some polite dinner conversation.
Thankfully, he didn’t try to kiss me good night when he dropped me off after dinner.
And … I never saw him again!
So … was he a narc, an arch (angel), or just a regular Mark?
I guess we’ll never know.
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