We Met Because I Was A Creep
“I told her that you had a crush on her. Yea, she wasn’t too excited”
The First Encounter
I sat in my office chair, feet propped on the desk, biting my lip. What other kind of update should I have expected from Jack? Of course, he shared it that way.
For 6 months, I had been hearing the name of one girl. The only problem? She lived three states away, and I had never met her. Was she cute? Of course. From Facebook, I could see she loved kids, loved Jesus, and loved adventure. Could we be a long-distance couple? She didn’t even know my name…
A dreary afternoon in February, that changed. I decided to go to chapel at my school, and upon passing the entryway, I noticed someone who fit Kayla’s description perfectly. I thought she was in California…? No matter. She was here, and I had my chance.
Chapel went off without a hitch, she sat in the front row with some friends. I sat in the back with my friends. Smooth so far. Once the speaker dismissed us, I hung around to see if she would walk past me. She went in the opposite direction. Of course…
Leaving the room through a separate exit, I milled around in the hallway as others filed out of the chapel room. I spotted Kayla not 10 feet away engaged in conversation with some people I knew. Now’s my chance. We made eye contact, I hesitated.
C’mon. Just go say hi. My feet began to move but in the opposite direction of where my mind was telling me to go. Wouldn’t you know it, I ended up downstairs not having said hello to Kayla or introducing myself. Ok, plan B.
I pulled my phone out and drafted a text to my friend who I had seen talking with her:
Hey Jack. Was that Kayla you were talking to? Do you know how I could get to know her?
Oh, yea. That’ll be the smarter route to go. Subtle…or so I thought.
Jack broadcasting my text and my supposed intentions to Kayla’s whole family was something I didn’t expect. Yes, he liked to talk, but I thought there would be a little more grace to this situation. Apparently not. So there I sat at my desk, dumbfounded. He had given her my number and said if she was interested to shoot me a text. That wouldn’t happen. I had been welcome to the “creeper” club.
As I pondered my situation, the only plausible solution I could fathom presented itself: Never see her again, don’t show your face.
Sound logic. Until one week later…
Kayla’s brother (actually she has 3 brothers…) was about 1.5 feet taller than me, had a massive beard, and could easily smoosh me if he wanted to. He had graduated from the same flight school I was currently attending, and had been living in another country for a while.
Well, a week after I became a creeper, I was studying with a friend of mine at school. As we took a quick break, I stretched my legs and walked around the empty building just allowing the fog in my mind to clear before returning to any further study. As I made my way down a long hallway to the flight dispatch office, I noticed a familiar name in the flight tracker.
Kayla and her brother had rented a school airplane and were just about to return. I was a grade-A creeper. Her brother would pound me. Defense mode, activated. They had just landed and were putting the airplane away before coming into the very hallway I was standing in, petrified.
I hurried upstairs to my friend, “We gotta go.”
“What?”
“How about we go to the other end of the airport to the school’s other hangar to study?” A nervous chuckle snuck out.
My friend agreed, and I hurried out to my truck. Oh, one other issue to note, the alternator on my truck had JUST failed. Thus, the battery was not charged. THUS, I had to pop the clutch whenever I wanted to start my truck. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see the door to the hangar where Kayla and her brother would exit after they put the plane away. We only had minutes.
I turned the key. Sad engine noises.
Turning to my friend, I began to sweat, “You’re gonna have to push…” My heart was racing.
He hopped out, pushed the small Toyota, and I successfully popped the clutch. Happy engine noises. Just as I turned the vehicle around, I saw the hangar door open. Out walked Kayla and her brother. Panic set in. Does she know I drive a red truck? Will she recognize my face?
As casually as I could, I drove right past the two both them. Nothing happened. I let the breath I was holding for the last 20 minutes FINALLY release.
That evening, I relived the events of the day in my head. I wouldn’t be able to escape the fear of being pounded for being a creep. I didn’t want her to think I was a weirdo. What to do? What to do?
Ah. A Facebook message. That’ll do it.
For the first time, I crafted an expertly worded message conveying my condolences at coming across as weird. We knew a lot of the same people, I’ve heard her name in a lot of my friend circles. Would she want to go to coffee or something? If not, that is totally fine. Got to give her an out….
Sent.
