We went to the same high school. Remarkably, we never met at school. I had heard tale of the "Scottish Exchange Student", but I never actually came into contact with her. We finally met one Saturday, when my friend, Lauren, and I decided to take in a movie. Apparently, Lauren and this mysterious exchange student shared a biology class. They were sitting a few rows ahead of us in the theatre, the exchange student and her friend. Lauren leaned over to me and said, "I think I know that girl up there," pointing to the redhead. "She's in my bio class. I think she's from England or something." When the movie was over, we waited for the two girls to get up and exit the theatre, so Lauren could see if it was, in fact, the foreign girl in her class. As the girls walked in our direction, recognition flashed across the face of the striking redhead.
"Lauren, hi, its me, Roxy, from Mrs. George's 3rd period." Her accent sounded musical to my ears. The way she lilted over her words sounded like sweetly chiming bells.
"Hi, Roxy. How's it going?" Introductions followed. Lauren and I found out that her friend was called Maria. They made a strange pair, really. Roxy was slightly above average height, with lovely pale peridot green eyes and red ringlets cascading down around a countenance of the creamiest white skin. She was thin, but not too thin. She was obviously the child of hippies, as was I. Her dress sense alone told me that much. Maria, on the other hand, was dark, Spanish looking. She was fairly heavy and clearly uncomfortable in her own skin. I could tell immediately that I was going to like Roxy. She exuded something magnetic to me. I instantly felt like I needed to know her. I suppose something inside me knew that she would play a big role in the rest of my life.
The next school day, I made it a point to find her. I had been thinking about her since our first meeting. I only knew for sure that she would be in the biology lab during 3rd period. So, that meant I would have to make a beeline from the art room, on the other side of the school to make it over to where she would be. I sat, anxiously, at my table in the art room trying to work on my assignment. I couldn't stop shifting in my seat. I was ready for the chimes! I wanted to make sure that I saw her! Finally, the old familiar "department store elevator" chimes. I jumped up, grabbed my bag and was out the door. I was racing down the 1st hallway heading for the back hallway. The biology labs were at the end of the back hallway. Kids were beginning to fill the hallways, making it difficult to maintain my speed. Halfway down the back hallway, I spotted her. She was coming towards me. An unexpected turn of events! I had somehow imagined that when she exited the lab she would be heading the opposite direction. Shit! She was going to see me running! At the very least, she would catch up to me and I would be out of breath and unable to talk to her! I began to slow myself and tried to look as casual as possible. She was coming right for me! My heart was pounding in my chest.
"Hiya!" She said, walking towards me.
"Hi, back!" I tried not to stammer.
"Where ya' headed?" She inquired.
"Oh, I was just going to see if I could catch Lauren." I lied.
"Oh, yeah...She's not here today. Didn't you know that?" She replied.
"Oh, that's right! What was I thinking? Guess my mind was someplace else!" I felt really stupid.
"Well, it happens to the best of us, right? Actually, I'm glad I ran into you."
"Yeah, me too. I was thinking...Do you want to maybe get together this weekend and hang out, or something." I asked nervously.
"Sounds great. Here, let me give you my phone number. You can phone me after school, if you want, and we can talk more about it then. Okay?" She said.
"Okay, cool. I will."
I did, indeed, phone her after school that day, and everyday after that. The more we talked, the more we had to talk about. Soon, we began rearranging our routes to our classes so that we could pass notes to one another and catch a glimpse of each other. We would smile and wave or quickly exchange a word or two. I couldn't get enough of her! When I was with her, I felt special, even cool. She was so different than anyone I had ever met before was, but she understood me. That was something that didn't come along everyday, someone that really understood me. It was only maybe a month or so before I really began to realize that my feelings for Roxy weren't entirely platonic. When I would see her, my heart would pound and my knees would go weak. When she would sit next to me, I could smell the soft floral aroma of her skin. That scent began to subtly infiltrate my brain. Like a Pavlovian response, I began to become spontaneously aroused by it. My mind began running scenarios about telling Roxy about my burgeoning awareness of my bisexuality. In one of the scenarios, Roxy was understanding but clearly not interested. In another, she was horrified at the very thought of it and ran screaming from the room. In yet another, my personal favourite, she turned to me and said that she had wanted to tell me the same thing and we embrace passionately, things then progressing from there.
I began planning, in earnest, to tell Roxy. For better or for worse, the truth would be known. Being to romantic in my notions to really consider the consequences. I invited her to sleep over at my house, that upcoming weekend. She was agreed gladly. I was going to tell her that night. Things went according to plan, at first. She arrived and we ate dinner with my parents and then went to my room to play games and watch TV. We talked and goofed around for what seemed like ages. Finally, we heard my parents retire for the evening. I suggested that we head out side for a smoke. I had managed to score a little grass of a friend and had been saving it for this occasion. We smoked the joint and talked for a while. As we were having our after cigarettes, I decided to tell her my secret.
"Roxy, there is something that I want to tell you." I began.
"What is it? You sound serious, all of the sudden." She replied.
