Funny how something will bring back memories you haven't thought of years.
This morning I saw a name on the schedule that was the same as a girl I grew up with Robyn blahdeblah. Robyn was my first girlfriend. That's right, in third grade we were the talk of Garden City Elementary for almost three days!
Our class, Ms.Fink's class went on a field trip in the spring to the Roanoke Transportation Museum. Basically, just a couple of rusted trains at a park comprised the "museum". But still time out of the classroom is always a good time. I don't know what I thought of Robyn previous to this trip to be honest, I'd always seemed to know her she lived not three or four blocks from me and my dad knew her dad etc.
At some point on this trip it happened seemingly out of nowhere. We were out running around and this little girl Jayne ran up to me and whispered, "Robyn likes you". Being with the "guys" I probably made some face and some intelligent comment like "phfffttttt!" and ran off. A bit later Robyn approached me herself. You could always tell she was going to be quite an attractive girl, she had long reddish-brown hair and blue eyes and a cute little nose. But she walked right up to me and I will never forget this sensation, she reached out and held my hand. How simple and sweet and naive a little thing it was, but what shockwaves I felt even then. The rest of the day we kept right on holding hands.
In the social realm of the third grade, this was a bold thing to do and obviously was going to open me up to much ridicule and taunting. In fact, as we went through the day I was aware of the parental volunteers with us pointing and smiling at the spectacle that we were. However, the other kids were gathered often in small groups and whispering and giggling at us. For reasons I can't imagine I just didn't care about all these things, I continued on seemingly unable to break the spell I was under from this female. It's obvious, that this was a harbinger of my career with females to follow in the ensuing years.
The timeline gets hazy here, maybe a weekend followed but my next memory is being back in school and Robyn and I passing little notes back and forth all day. We shared little knowing glances and smiles that only we understood since our "intimacy" had occurred. We were love personified for the whole third grade to see.
That evening the hot and heavy romance took an unexpected turn for the worse. I guess I, as a typical guy, committed an unforgivable act. The worst thing you can do a woman. I cheated on her. Now I didn't mean to (don't they always say that?)and I guess my 8 year old brain didn't register the offense. That afternoon I decided to take my friends through the woods that seperated our subdivisions to show where this girl lived. Among these friends was the girl across the street from me Michelle. As we trooped along through the woods, my brother and another friend diverted from our plan and instead decided to visit the site of our woodland fort from the summer before to see if it would be usable the coming summer. This unfortunately, left just me and Michelle continuing on to Robyn's. Robyn was out back with her cousin, playing as we approached their yard. I greeted her as any boyfriend might, by lobbing a "dirt clob" from out of the woods at her. Her initial happiness at seeing me was quickly dampened by the site of Michelle who she apparently didn't like very much at the time. We talked for all of five minutes and wandered back through the woods towards home. I had no concept I had done anything wrong. Though I figure to put what I did into "adult" equivelent terms, it was like not only sleeping with someone behind your woman's back but doing so in a brazen and public manner.
The next morning in school, she wouldn't speak to me at all. I would catch her out of the corner of my eye looking at me but she would look away when I turned to look back at her.
The anvil was dropped on me at lunch. She again sent her trusty and able spokesperson Jayne in to deliver the message. "Robyn doesn't like you anymore" she stated flatly and whirled with a snort. I can't say I was crushed or happy or anything really, just kind of confused.
Robyn stayed in my little universe right through high school. I know we shared classes but save one interesting conversation when we were 16 there was nothing of note between us.
One day in class she and I were chatting and I did or said something with my famous charming manner and she looked at me and said "you know you are dam cute boy". I now eight years later fancied myself as kind of a "player" and told her she "wasn't so bad herself" (how clever) and that my friends was a gross understatement, she had become very va-va and voom. Then she said, "but I knew that years ago" and she giggled like her eight year old self might have.
There was at that moment something in the air, sexually charged like it only is when you are 16 and your hormones are raging all over the place. Right about that time though, my girlfriend Amy called me over to where she was. Robyn smiles and says "ahh, there's always another woman for you isn't there?". And so another chance lost with the fair Robyn.
So as Paul Harvey might say "and now you know the resssstttttt...of the story".
I suppose it's true you never forget your "first".