boys his age. During flag football in gym class, he’d given every kid a chance to score a touchdown—even though he’d been a far superior athlete than most anyone else. He hadn’t gotten stuck with braces like over half our grade. While other boys had a smell to them that said they’d yet to discover deodorant, Ollie had never stunk of sweat. And when he smiled, I discovered what it meant to have butterflies in my stomach. No one else had ever made my belly react that way. I figured it had to be for a greater reason.
At our 6th grade school dance, I’d stood alone in the corner, while the kids lucky enough to have a partner danced. A slow song had echoed throughout the gym, and just when I’d been about to run off to the bathroom for a good cry because I didn’t have a partner, Ollie had asked me to dance with him.
Unlike the other boys, he hadn’t held me at a safe distance. The girls had watched with envy as Ollie effortlessly twirled me around the dance floor. After that night, many thought he had to be in love with me. I let them think it too. As much as it had been a moment that could’ve only been topped in my dreams, I was still pretty sure he’d mainly danced with me to appease our grandparents.
The two of us had been pushed to hang out together over the years, yet after the start of 7th grade, all that had stopped. And while they hadn’t been at the dance, our grandparents still found out about everything. If they’d known I was alone and Ollie had done nothing about it, he would’ve been in big trouble.
We’d never hung out before, and that didn’t change afterward. Our dance became nothing but a sacred memory for a foolish girl. I watched and waited patiently as he flipped from girl to girl, knowing someday my chance would come to be with him. I wasn’t about to mess it up the way others before me had. Oliver was going to see me in a different light…eventually.
When we started High School, Ollie became more serious about sports. During the fall, he’d played football and during the spring, it was baseball. Being a loyal student, I’d represented my school by never missing a single game. While attending the sporting events, I’d met my best friend, Jayme. We were in the same grade, and she’d also had a crush on one of the team players. Unfortunately, her crush hadn’t known about her secret infatuation any more than Ollie had known about mine. Jayme and I had quickly become inseparable. She’d known everything about me and vice versa.
During our senior year, Ollie had one last chance to make an impression on scouts and lock in a scholarship from the school of his dreams—the University of Southern California. Jayme’s dream man had finally noticed her, and like most girls our age, Jayme had made the mistake of giving it up after a drunken party. She’d suffered over her decision for days after, hoping for a phone call. That same night Ollie had started dating the head cheerleader. Together we’d mourned the loss of our “true loves”.
As the semester had worn on, Jayme and I recovered, but I continued to watch Oliver. I never missed a game and never wasted a chance to return his polite smile when we’d crossed paths in the hallway. I hadn’t failed to notice Jayme’s attitude change. Although we’d remained best friends, there’d been something off about her that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Ollie’s final baseball game as a senior turned out to be the night everything changed—the night our team won the state championship. The game had been held at our school, and I, along with half the school, had waited outside the locker room for the team to exit. All the players had pranced from the room into the waiting arms of cheering fans and girls ready to throw themselves at them. One-by-one they’d left, but Ollie remained inside. A few other girls had been waiting for him to leave as well, but they hadn’t stayed and waited him out the way I had.
Truthfully, I’d been worried for him. It wasn’t normal for him to have taken so long—not to mention, there’d been at least one party filled with booze awaiting him. Twenty minutes after the last fan left, I’d decided to brave it and enter the