10 Years Later, You Get the Guy 

Some quick life updates for y’all who actually read my blog posts (Hi mom, love you)

1. First, I will be graduating from Baylor University in August, if anyone cares (again, mom).
2. Second, I’m no longer a vegetarian – as I’ve been instructed to slowly re-introduce my body to meat before my upcoming trip to Kenya in May, where my diet will be primitive and extremely limited.
3. Thirdly, I started dating my best friend.

“But I thought you were straight?”

   Yes, while my actual best friend Hannah and I are still passionately in love, I’m referring to one of my high school friends, Liam. And now for context, here’s a quick summary of the past 10 years of my life.

I met Liam when I was 12, he 13, on the Wachusett Mountain Race Team. We had both been racing for a little bit, but he was always in the age group above me. Later, he transferred to Bancroft High School as a freshmen, where I attended 8th grade in the adjacent building. I recognized him immediately, and waved idiotically at a boy who had no idea who I was… I’m still upset about it.

For the next four years of my life, we raced together on both the high school team and the Wachusett team. As an eighth grader on a high school team, I was shy and primarily stayed to myself during the pre-season. We were “friends” at school, but not on the mountain. Almost daily, I’d find the courage to walk up and ask him if we had practice that day,  even though I already knew the answer. He didn’t notice, I guarantee he doesn’t remember, and his memory has not improved since High School.

My little crush gained a lot more confidence when I started winning the races. We both held the #1 spots for our gender in the high school league. After obtaining a little rank and relevance to the team, I could actually talk to Liam and the rest of the team without feeling like the youngest, insignificant member.

   During my sophomore and his junior year (2013), we both individually won first place in the league and had a couple news articles written about us. We did this again in 2014. Another humble brag? The newspapers are still on his family’s fridge. We definitely peaked in high school. 

Later in 2013, we attended his prom together. Which was weird, I won’t sugarcoat it. The pictures are cringe-y, I thank all of the God’s for weight-loss and hair dye. We were

both ‘with’ other people, we didn’t talk much, and dancing was awkward at best. Plus, he only gave me 3 days to figure out how to look like Cinderella – so my dress didn’t fit properly. 

I’m making it sound much worse than it was, it was nice. Afterwards, everything went back to our normal seasonal friendship, we continued our separate relationships with other people. He eventually graduated and I went on with my usual life.

This past December, 2018, Liam posted a picture on Instagram that can only be described as utterly-himself, that I commented on, laughing. I messaged him something lame about the only thing we had in common, skiing, mentioning how he should “re-teach me”… Re-teach a league-winning skier? I knew perfectly well how to ski, but it was the only excuse I could think of.

He invited me to his house’s Christmas Ugly Sweater party, to which I hesitantly accepted. It had been 4 years since we last spoke, I would know absolutely no one at the party, and I’m pretty shy when alone in big groups. The party was great, it only took me about 2 whole minutes to start being myself around these new, really cool people.

My crush was back, instantly. I guess feelings never truly go away. We started talking about how great his friends are, and what we’ve been up to in the past four years. He joked about how it’s crazy that after all this time we still get along great, to which I replied something like “this is why we should’ve dated in high school.”

Blame the tequila, blame the holiday season, blame the incredible array of ugly sweaters, in that moment I gathered all the suppressed boldness over the past decade to kiss him in the absolutely frigid kitchen.

*insert literally any Nicholas Sparks cliche here*

   Am I lame to admit to the internet that I texted my mom immediately? I don’t care. She’s been waiting for this for awhile, we talked about it at length when I was younger.

We’ve been hanging out on and off the past couple months. We talk every day, but I live in Texas now and he still in Massachusetts. So far, since December, I’ve flown back twice a month to see him. (Hey Liam, it’s time for you to fly out to Texas).

My main issue was the distance, it kept me from wanting to commit to something more than just friends. I’ve had poor experience with long distance relationships, and I believe it’s pretty hard to begin something new while living 1500 miles apart.

    This past Spring Break, we both flew to Orlando to go to Disney world for a couple days. My mom had a work conference, so we met and stayed with her for a mini-vacation in Florida. I had the best few days of my life, being a complete tourist, laughing with someone who had quickly  become one of my best friends. After the vacation was over and Liam’s flight had already departed, I looked over some photos we’d taken of the trip. In one particular photo, a stranger snapped a moment where Liam was talking while I looked up and listened to him. I look absolutely radiant. I’m beaming of happiness. I sent my mom the photo, and she texted back “so remind me why you’re not with him?“

So, it’s only been a couple days, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been. This and the Jonas Brothers reunion??? Middle school me is SCREAMING.

To those of you still reading, there’s my life update. Thanks for sticking with the love-drunk ramblings of a newly not-single girl. I hope if you’ve learned anything from this overly long article, it’s don’t worry, if at first you don’t succeed – wait 10 years and you’ll eventually get the guy.

♡ Abigail Reagan