Yes, this happened. Both of us were eighteen.
I was on a beach trip, and it was so long ago (having happened in high school) I'm not even sure why it happened. It wasn't because I was part of any team, and it was a coed trip. I liked the beach, but I knew I was going to have my 'being single and dorky' status thrown in my face. A lot.
Why? Because that was what my high school years were like. Constant reminders that I was different. Coke bottle glasses. Obviously a virgin. (Well, not quite, but that, as they say, is another story.
There were the Jocks on this trip, and there were also a few of what also used to be called Greasers along for the hellish mix. Of course, like oil and water, they didn't mix. And I was kind of in the fringe that didn't get along with either. I was basically turning into a photo-hippie, even though my father made sure that I had regular hair cuts so I wouldn't be ("While you're in My House!").
So it was not exactly the kind of trip that I wanted to go on. Except... did I mention it was a beach day trip?
There was the usual 'fun and frolic' that went on. There was the sun (which proceeded to pretty much crisp me, as I tended to burn more easily than tan.) Then there was Her.
Mary. She was one of the aforementioned Greasers -- a redneck of none too determined cultural reference. Meaning that she didn't really fit in with the Jocks and Cheerleader types or the Preppy Ones, but she didn't really even fit in with 'her own kind.' She was an 'outlier' in much the same ways that I was.
Think Romeo and Juliet, but with hippies and greasers.
Of course I knew her from school. I had seen her around. I knew her name, but not much else. We didn't mix socially (for some obvious reasons). But we kind of drifted together that day.
She was pretty much as alone on this trip as I was. That, in part, was how we managed to drift together.
When she got her bikini on she wasn't going to be winning any beauty contests. But to my dorky eyes, her plump and rather roly poly figure was at least attractive to me. She was not a 10, but at least she was not a 2.
At one point, I saw that she was off to the side, looking as forlorn as I felt. I knew we had nothing whatsoever in common except the school we both went to. We kind of looked at each other, and noticed that we were both in the same 'boat' as it were.
I still to this day don't know how I did it or why, but I gravitated in her direction. "Mind if I sit with you?" I asked her, waiting to be rebuffed.
She looked up at me, shaded her eyes, and hesitated. "Um. Sure. I guess."
I waited for a few minutes, and threw my towel down next to her. I began reaching out my hand and said, "I'm--"
"I know who you are." She kind of looked away, and when she looked back at me, gave me a somewhat disgusted look, and told me, "You're not much of a man. Are you?"
Right, I thought. Well, this was a bad idea. "Why?" I decided to ask her, as we used to say 'just for grins.'
"You don't stand up for yourself." I was the subject of greaser bullies who liked to pick on me.
"It's not my fault if they want to find someone--" I was known for having been hit on by the Redneck 'population,' I guess because they didn't want to try hitting on the Jocks. Because the Jocks tent to hit back.
I didn't know what to say to her about this.