When we started dating...

I began attending Cottonwood High during the tenth grade. I clearly recall my very first day walking into that school, which was actually before the school year had even begun. I went, during the summer, to take a french horn lesson from Amber Tuckness, who also happened to be my band/orchestra teacher. Amber was good friends with some of her students, which included Angela and MalloryPlatt, now one of our mutual best friends. After beginning my first lesson there with Amber, Mallory walked in and was greeted by Amber as she said, "Hi Ugly!", which I suppose was a common greeting from Amber to Mal. I knew from the get-go that it was going to be an interesting year, and it turns out that I was right.

I developed many close friendships at Cottonwood and the majority of the friends were from the music program. It was during this year that Angela and I realized that we had once known each other before and, despite all that had happened, became very close friends.

One day, after attending a fireside, Angela drove me home. For a long time there was some debate about some girls in the school that had a crush on me. I had no idea to whom my friends were referring (aside from three girls I knew about, but they said it was somebody else) and they all refused to tell me who it was. Well, after Angela and I arrived at my house I asked her who it was that liked me. I will never forget how silent the car was at that moment. She stared at me for a while, then looked out her window with her face completely avoiding my own. She began to chuckle and that's when I asked, "Is it YOU?". I have never seen Angela go so bright red as she did then. We sat in the car for a long time and talked, then I went inside. I had butterflies in my stomach and couldn't wait to talk to her, so I called her on the phone to set up our first date. I couldn't believe that it had been her all along. It turns out that our first date was the beginning of something much greater than we had ever anticipated.