Backstep
1st Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2006
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This is the last college memory I expect to write about. There were plenty of other brief moments, but this and the other two were the best ones from those four years. I am also writing this now while I'm on a roll and I have time, because it's a very personal story, and I'd hesitate to type it out otherwise.
It was mid-April my Senior year, about 3 weeks from graduation. I was living off-campus and from late March onwards, there was some gathering almost every night, especially with three housemates having friends over or going out. During a big one, enough to be called a true party, I went outside for some air and to check for police.
There was a girl sitting on a bench attached to the side of the building whom I recognized as Kristin; dark hair, slim, a little plain, but kind. I didn't know her so very well, but I knew she'd had a bit of a falling out with our mutual friends earlier in the school year (she was closer to them than I was). She looked really upset, so I went and sat next to her. I didn't say anything at first, but just patted her knee.
It took a while to tease it out, but she was upset because she'd lost her two best college friends and her boyfriend the semester before. It turned out to be because she'd had an experience the previous summer that prompted her to become a Christian, and she'd really hooked in with some pretty stong Atheist/Agnostic types who took her conversion very poorly. She didn't fit in well with the campus Christian group and had felt really alone for a while. She came to the party hoping to resolve any differences with her old friends, but they weren't interested. She seemed to expect that I'd blow her off when she mentioned faith in Christ, but I just put my arm around her and she had a quick cry against my shoulder. I thought she was also somewhat sad to be graduating at all but didn't say so.
She said she didn't expect to laugh and be happy again until she was gone from school to put the past behind her. Hearing that, on impulse, I dropped the hand on her shoulder and tickled her side. She squealed and pushed harder against me, but didn't drop her elbow. So I ran my hand up and down her ribs. She had a sweet giggle, and she was squirming, but didn't try to get away or push my hand away.
After a moment she had squirmed so that she was half-lying in my lap and she put her arms up and locked her hands together around my neck. I gave a mental shrug and gently stroked her underarms. I remember that they had just the faintest stubble, but felt soft. She was laughing and squealing, using my neck to keep her hands from coming down. She really seemed to be enjoying the moment. She had been plain, but when she laughed, I found her quite attractive.
I don't know how long that lasted, but eventually she let go and drew her arms down to protect her sides. Her head was on my thighs and she seemed very vulnerable and pretty. I drew her up and we shared a brief, sweet kiss before she sat upright and wiped her eyes again.
She said that must have seemed odd to me. I told her that I'd made her smile and laugh and that wasn't odd at all and neither was the kiss. She smiled and we kissed again and she put her head on my chest and eventually almost dozed off. We stayed like that for a while.
As the last few weeks rolled away, I spent more time with her. We didn't do more than talk and kiss a few times, but there was the issue of her faith and I didn't want to be romantically entangled before I graduated anyhow. I tickled her a few times, but not like that night (she wasn't ticklish anywhere else anyhow, but she loved a foot massage... well, who doesn't really?).
We mostly lost touch after graduation, but still exchange the occasional e-mail. Our shared friends, who never talked about religion at all up to that point so far as I can recall, were actually annoyed with me for spending time with her. Real middle school stuff, if you ask me.
It was mid-April my Senior year, about 3 weeks from graduation. I was living off-campus and from late March onwards, there was some gathering almost every night, especially with three housemates having friends over or going out. During a big one, enough to be called a true party, I went outside for some air and to check for police.
There was a girl sitting on a bench attached to the side of the building whom I recognized as Kristin; dark hair, slim, a little plain, but kind. I didn't know her so very well, but I knew she'd had a bit of a falling out with our mutual friends earlier in the school year (she was closer to them than I was). She looked really upset, so I went and sat next to her. I didn't say anything at first, but just patted her knee.
It took a while to tease it out, but she was upset because she'd lost her two best college friends and her boyfriend the semester before. It turned out to be because she'd had an experience the previous summer that prompted her to become a Christian, and she'd really hooked in with some pretty stong Atheist/Agnostic types who took her conversion very poorly. She didn't fit in well with the campus Christian group and had felt really alone for a while. She came to the party hoping to resolve any differences with her old friends, but they weren't interested. She seemed to expect that I'd blow her off when she mentioned faith in Christ, but I just put my arm around her and she had a quick cry against my shoulder. I thought she was also somewhat sad to be graduating at all but didn't say so.
She said she didn't expect to laugh and be happy again until she was gone from school to put the past behind her. Hearing that, on impulse, I dropped the hand on her shoulder and tickled her side. She squealed and pushed harder against me, but didn't drop her elbow. So I ran my hand up and down her ribs. She had a sweet giggle, and she was squirming, but didn't try to get away or push my hand away.
After a moment she had squirmed so that she was half-lying in my lap and she put her arms up and locked her hands together around my neck. I gave a mental shrug and gently stroked her underarms. I remember that they had just the faintest stubble, but felt soft. She was laughing and squealing, using my neck to keep her hands from coming down. She really seemed to be enjoying the moment. She had been plain, but when she laughed, I found her quite attractive.
I don't know how long that lasted, but eventually she let go and drew her arms down to protect her sides. Her head was on my thighs and she seemed very vulnerable and pretty. I drew her up and we shared a brief, sweet kiss before she sat upright and wiped her eyes again.
She said that must have seemed odd to me. I told her that I'd made her smile and laugh and that wasn't odd at all and neither was the kiss. She smiled and we kissed again and she put her head on my chest and eventually almost dozed off. We stayed like that for a while.
As the last few weeks rolled away, I spent more time with her. We didn't do more than talk and kiss a few times, but there was the issue of her faith and I didn't want to be romantically entangled before I graduated anyhow. I tickled her a few times, but not like that night (she wasn't ticklish anywhere else anyhow, but she loved a foot massage... well, who doesn't really?).
We mostly lost touch after graduation, but still exchange the occasional e-mail. Our shared friends, who never talked about religion at all up to that point so far as I can recall, were actually annoyed with me for spending time with her. Real middle school stuff, if you ask me.
