I fell head over heels for a girl named Natalie. We worked together at the college radio station and I was friends with her boyfriend at the time. Little did I know that we would both soon find ourselves single a few months down the road.
He broke up with Natalie because he felt like she was too immature. She was younger than him and wanted to party; he wanted to focus on his school work. So he felt like they didn't mesh anymore.
Natalie was devastated as she had been in love with him since high school. He also moved away for the summer as part of an internship opportunity. So Natalie was left all alone in town with nothing to do other than working her part-time job.
Meanwhile, my relationship was on the rocks. My girlfriend was getting ready to graduate college and I had just gotten back in the previous semester. We kept lying to ourselves that long distance would work when she got a job an hour and a half away, but the writing was pretty much on the wall. We started arguing more, I started drinking and partying in response, and she felt alone in the relationship.
One night, I finally had enough and broke it off with her after yet another fight.
With both of us single, we gravitated to each other because we didn't have anybody else. It was friendly at first but eventually the text messages got flirty, the hugs got a little longer, and we were spending more time together.
But we both knew it wasn't the best idea to jump into a relationship. Well, she did. I was ready to be her boyfriend way before she ever thought about me that way. Despite this, I didn't scare her off.
Instead, we ended up alone in the basement at a house party. I picked her up and set her on the washing machine and the kisses were electric. My hands found her ass; her arms were wrapped around my neck and the kisses continued to intensify.
I unzipped her pants.
"Hey," she said in between kisses. "I'm really into this. All of this." She kissed me again. "But I'm a virgin." I immediately stepped away from her.
"Oh shit Natalie, I didn't know," I stammered. "I wasn't trying to push you into it." She laughed and used my shirt to bring our lips together again.
"I didn't want you to put your fingers too deep." She slid her hands underneath my shirt and dragged her nails across my back slowly. "I'm super wet and I'd rather not lose it that way."
We continued to make out and I found out that she loved anything I did with my mouth to her neck. But eventually, we went out the back door of the basement and headed to a nearby parking garage that was in walking distance. We ended up talking and kissing until the sun rose, then I walked her back to her car so she could head home.
I was in love from that night on.
The next 3 months were a blur. I pursued Natalie for a few weeks and she didn't seem interested. I stopped messaging and she started texting me more. I came to the conclusion we were only going to be friends and she texted me she was going to come over randomly.
We spent the next hour making out on my porch with her sitting on my lap.
But Natalie still didn't have a huge interest in being in a relationship. She made a failed attempt at getting back with her ex and I again decided to stop chasing her. We always seemed to find reasons to come back together though.
Natalie ended up finding me on multiple nights out (she had a car, I did not) and we'd just sit and talk and always end up making out.
She wanted to see Transformers and I was willing to see it again. We spent more time all over each other. That same night she came over to watch a movie.
We did everything but have sex.
We did have our first fight a few weeks later that effectively killed anything we had going. I was out with a friend for dinner and Natalie ended up coming in to grab some food. She sat with us and my friend left us to do whatever we decided to do that night.
While I was game for our usual heavy make out session back at my place, Natalie seemed distant. And when I called her on it, she didn't like it. Neither of us slept well that night.
Natalie left in the morning and our exchanges were brief from there. She told me she was considering transferring to a different college, as her grades had suffered from too much partying and she wanted to try a different approach. I ended up getting kicked out of school due to academic probation myself, so I had to pick up a customer service job to pay rent and bills.
Eventually, she did transfer and I thought that was the end of whatever the fling was.
But we never stopped texting each other.
Nine months later, I had just gotten back into town from visiting family and decided to get some food. I was sitting at a local bar, 1 beer in, when my flip phone lit up.
Natalie: Where are you?
Me: I'm at the bar. What are you doing?
Natalie: Me and my boyfriend broke up.
Natalie had told me that she started seeing someone since she transferred to a school 2 hours south. I felt like jealousy was pointless, so she told me all about him and kept me updated on how things were going.
At one point, she mentioned a fight about him texting his ex behind her back. They seemed to have moved past it.
N: He never stopped texting that bitch and I'm sick of it.
M: I don't blame you.
N: What are your plans after the bar?
M: I don't have any.
N: Good. I'll see you soon.
I was pushing my plate away and picking up my second beer when Natalie came in the door.
Natalie was shorter than me, about 5'4". Her brown hair was shoulder length and framed gorgeous blue eyes that were usually behind black rimmed eyeglasses.
She was skinny, the opposite of what I'm attracted to normally. But having explored her entire body before and how responsive she was to my touch, I never found her lack of curves to be a turn off.
She was keeping it casual with jeans, a flannel shirt, and sneakers. It complimented her perfectly for this early spring evening. She swung herself onto the bar stool next to me.
"Hey you," she smiled.
"You seem to be in good spirits for someone going through a breakup," I said after another long sip of beer. The bartender came by and I asked for another beer for Natalie.
"Well," she started before she took a drink. "He's an asshole and I'm here with you. So why not be in good spirits?"
"I'll toast to that," I said, raising my beer to hers.
We spent the next hour or so catching up about school for her and work for me. We ended up blowing a bunch of money shooting on the arcade basketball hoop. By the time we left, we were several beers in. I looked at Natalie outside of the bar as the last rays of sun gave way to nightfall.
"This was nice," I said, wanting to draw closer but keeping my distance. She took my hand in hers.
"I know its Sunday night but do you hear that music?" I could pick up faint sounds of a band playing in the distance. "Want to go see who's playing?" She was already pulling me in that direction before I could agree.
Sure enough, the local music venue down the street did have live music. It turned out I knew the door man and he let us in without the cover charge. Soon, we were perched along the wall as the ska band that drew us in continued to play their set.
I went to get two more beers when the band was in between numbers. When I returned, Natalie was swaying along to the new song, eyes closed. She really seemed to be enjoying herself.
