8. There is more to junior high romance than what there may seem.

It took me all of about 4 months to realize that there was no way I was going to be able to make a move on Nathan*. So instead, I let another boy catch my attention...

Enter Bane*. Bane and I became friends through a mutual friend. She lived down the road from him, and she and I were best friends. The guy and I played basketball together, and at one point Bane and I hit it off really well. Now, I know what you're thinking, getting involved with a best friend's friend is just a recipe for disaster. It surprisingly wasn't.

About halfway through the year, Bane and I started hanging out regularly. We quickly exchanged numbers and began hanging out on an almost regular basis. Bane was the first person I ever kissed. I don't want to spill too much about it, just know that it was sloppy and awkward, just how first kisses usually are.

When Bane and I finally broke up, it was messy and ugly. I broke his heart. I don't know why, but after about three months, I just didn't want to be his girlfriend anymore. He cried a lot. I just couldn't keep my mind off of Harry*. Even though Harry still never payed me much attention, he was still everything I wanted. Summer after seventh grade year, we finally started talking to each other on a regular basis.

My name is Blake*, and first break ups are always the worst.

*all names have been changed to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent

Update on Bane:
Bane and I went to high school together. He and I never really spoke much more throughout high school, and we have since lost touch with each other. I have no idea what's going on with his life currently....

7. Seventh grade saw another first...

So in seventh grade, I started off the year still madly in love with Harry. At the beginning of the school year, a very cute boy named Nathan* caught my attention. Nathan was unfortunately forbidden because of his race....yes my family was very racist. I won't share which ethnicity he was, but just know that there are about 5 races within my family that would be unacceptable for me to date. Instead, I spent a good amount of time shamelessly flirting with him in the hallways.

Nathan was super cute. He was a star athlete in two of the three sports he played, and had no problem letting everyone know he wanted to be with me. Because he was such a friendly and outgoing guy, he was also a pretty likable guy. Hardly anyone disliked him.

The only bad part of Nathan's story is that I was never given any kind of chance whatsoever to see if there could have been any kind of future between the two of us.

So what was my first in seventh grade? The first first was a forbidden love. As nice as Nathan was, dating him would have been completely out of the question.

The next first is a story for another day . . .

My name is Blake*, and thankfully my family has overcome their racism.

*all names have been changed to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent

Update on Nathan:
Nathan moved away from my school after his freshman year in high school (he was a year older than me). He went to an in-state school, where he met a pretty lady and they now have a kid together. We recently reconnected via my favorite social networking site, and he's still just as attractive as ever. I'm just not trying to have any baby mama drama.

5. We all have our various firsts.

In my last actual post, I talked to you about Fred*. I also said that I would share more about Fred the next day. Well, Fred kind of disappeared for a while. Not really disappeared, but he wasn't as prominent in my life until later, once we were in junior high. Then he disappeared again until high school. And then again until a couple years after I graduated from high school. But I'm trying to tell you this in chronological order, so we'll re-visit Fred when the time becomes appropriate.

Fast forward to fifth grade. FIFTH GRADE PEOPLE. What was my first firsts in 5th grade? We'll get to that.

Summer before my fifth grade year, a mom of one of the boys in my grade asked if I would help her babysit her youngest son Jackson*. She offered to pay me $5 an hour (in 5th grade that's a lot of money!). Of course, I spent a lot of time hanging out at her house, which caused Noah* and I to accidentally start "going out." (Don't ask me why fifth graders tell their parents they're going out with someone. They really aren't going out anywhere except maybe to the playground during recess....ahhh innocence.) Noah and I hung out all the time, and his mom started giving him extra allowance because he would help me babysit Jackson. Noah and I went to elementary football games together (where he would play and I'd be there to hug him afterwards), we would go to our basketball games together (where we both played), and we would even go to the high school football games together. All of this driven by our parents of course.

Everything was great between Noah and I. We never kissed, we never said the L word. I mean we were like 8 (okay maybe 10, but you get the idea), and still pretty innocent.

Then the school's spring dance came up and my world was shattered. For some reason, Noah broke up with me. Not only at the dance, but he also danced with other girls in front of me. ON TOP OF THAT, his mom was a sponsor for the dance. I cried in the bathroom. His mom came in and said "Blake,* you're too pretty to cry over him. Stop crying, clean yourself up, and march right out there and tell him you're better than him and there are plenty of other fish in the sea." HIS MOM TOLD ME TO TELL HIM THAT. So I did. And he and his circle of friends laughed at me, and I was more upset, but I didn't let him see me cry anymore that night.

One of his best friends Floyd* was nice enough to dance with me for the remainder of the evening.

Floyd also continues in this story as well, so you'll get to hear more about Floyd.

So what were my firsts in 5th grade?

• First time the M word was thrown into the mix (marriage, eww it makes me shudder now)--his mom would tell my mom all the time, IN FRONT OF ME, that she wanted me and Noah to get married so we would have smart babies.


• First time my heart was broken, but it definitely wouldn't be the last...

My name is Blake*, and I'm telling you to never give your heart away at a young age because boys are dumb.

*all names have been changed to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent

Update on the boys in this entry:

Noah and I no longer ran around in the same circles past junior high. He stopped playing sports, and got into some recreational drug use in high school. The boy was pretty freakin' smart, but he wasted his intelligence and went to a local community college. He didn't finish school, and I believe he now works for his dad's construction business. It was seriously a waste of talent. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT DO DRUGS!