The Story of the Dude (In the Middle)

I decided to move in with my dad.

I did not come up with this plan overnight, and I did not do it totally alone. It took about a month of serious conversations back and forth to convince my dad I was not making a split decision before he would even CONSIDER discussing it with my mom.

My mom was not thrilled with my plan at all.


We'd been separated before- when I was little, she sent me to live with friends while she got her life back together after the divorce from my dad. She moved the earth to get us all back together, and I know the idea of me moving away to live with the person that had caused our first separation could not have been an easy one.

She said no for several months.

I don't know exactly what changed her mind, but I moved back in with my dad sometime in June or July before my freshman year of high school.

My baby brother was born in August.

I started high school with almost no friends- I had been away for a year and the year prior (7th grade), I had gone to a school in another town nearby so the people I knew previously did not attend the high school I would go to.

I started the cycle of no friends and mean girls all over again, but I had someplace stable to come home.

I struggled through freshman year. My dad was never a cook of any kind and I ate a lot of macaroni & cheese. I also ate a lot of frozen pizza. I learned to do the dishes & vacuum, as well as doing a ton of mindless homework.

Somewhere in my freshman year, my dad started taking me back to gaming again. I got into a few games and started making friends again. The friends I'd had before (for the most part) were much older and not interested in hanging out with a geeky, un-pretty 14 year old girl. A few exceptions stood out, and I tried to make the best of my situation.

Maybe I clung a little to hard to this group, but it was my lifeline. It was my safety and my freedom from the crap I faced daily at school.

It was because of a game that I finally learned to tell time and it was because of games & my gaming friends that I learned how to deal with fractions.

It was a lot of fun.

Somewhere around sophomore year, a new guy started coming to the group. I've mentioned him before- Guy X. Again at first glance, he was not impressive to me, but within a month or two I had it BAD for this guy. He was MUCH closer to me in age than the rest of the guys, and he was well dressed, well spoken, smart, and relevant.

So began the 2 year crush.

There were a few other guys I had fleeting crushes on during this time frame- I was the only girl surrounded by single guys who were smart and fun. Many of them were within 3-5 years of my age. It happened with me- a LOT. But my steadfast sigh inducer was Guy X, for well over 2 years.

In this time, I started to gain a stronger understanding of the games I played. People graduated high school or went off to college, and the core group of people I was friends with at gaming shrunk even further. The Dude became a regular part of my circle. Our relationship at first was a little stilted- he was friends with my friends, rather than with me. We slowly did more things in common or talked about more things, and got to be friends.

We started doing a variety of things outside of gaming together (or in a big group that we were both part of) and I got to see what HE was into. He loved music. He was a huge collector and an amateur rock historian. Every paycheck, he would hit the record stores scouring the import, new, and rock bins for things that struck his interest. I'd go along more often than not, amazed at what he knew and got exposed to a whole new world of music.

Either through high school, activities, or through a teen group I was also part of, I finally started dating as a sophomore. Most of the time it was mindless and the boys were not worth mentioning.

However, there was one guy that was actually a boyfriend through the winter. He was very charming, and not terrible looking. He was in band, which was a huge plus in my book- I was in orchestra and loved music. He had a car and we could actually DO things. He was also a creep. I did not know it at the time, but he was a massive player and kept me on board as a back up in case other girls fell through.

We were still going out at my birthday (which is very close to Valentine's day). He was supposed to pick me up to go out to eat and then a movie that Friday (birthday was Saturday). He never showed and never called.

I went into town Saturday to hang out, and stopped by where we hung out to game. The Dude was there, along with a few others. I was griping about my bad day (it was my birthday and my boyfriend stood me up) when the Dude said "come with me, I'll cheer you up".

We wound up hitting a record store, just browsing and talking. He was talking a mile a minute, and cracking jokes like no tomorrow. I was laughing pretty hard- he's a funny guy; I'm easily amused; and I needed the distractions. He had me nearly peeing my pants several times and I was relaxing out of my mad-on.

I was walking through the stacks and found a vinyl copy of Prince's Purple Rain. If there's one guy I love musically, it is PRINCE. I love his music, and the Dude knew it VERY well. I picked it up and oohed and aahed over it for a bit, and then stuck it back in the bin.

I was jabbering on about something completely different when I see the Dude at the cash register checking out. I figure we are headed to the next store when he hands me the Purple Rain album and says

"Happy Birthday"

It's probably one of the 5 nicest things anyone has ever done for me.