Junior year at Foothill High School started off
like any other year. Jen was anxious to start school and get going on
what some say is the hardest and most important year of high school. She
had scheduled herself with some very difficult classes including Honors
English, AP US History, and Algebra 2. Algebra 2 ended up being one of
her most interesting classes...and it wasn't just because math was one
of her favorite subjects.
As Jen entered Mr. Sullivan's Algebra 2 class, she realized that he was assigning alphabetical order seating. She wandered to the left side of the classroom and ended up sitting right behind a boy named Kristopher D. Kris was a cute guy and was always ready to provide a good laugh. As he got to know Jen better, he would tease her endlessly about stressing out all the time over homework, tests, and school in general (...some things never change!).
Early in the month of December 1998, Jen was getting ready to leave with her family to go take pictures with her younger brother and sister. As they were about to leave, the phone rang. It was Kris! Jen was very surprised, but talked to him for a little while. He asked if she would like to go to the movies and thinking that she was just going out with a guy FRIEND, she said Yes. One night in mid-Dec, Jen's mom drove her to the Galaxy 8 theater to meet Kris. (She didn't exactly trust "some random guy" to drive her daughter all the way from CV to P-town at night!) Kris picked Elizabeth as the movie they were going to see. He thought it would be perfect! Jen, on the other hand, was somewhat shocked when the opening scene of the movie showed people being burned at the stake! Kris tried to hold Jen's hand a couple of times, but Jen just kept her hands on her lap not really thinking much of it. She wasn't much experienced in the boy department! All in all though, both Jen and Kris had a great time and they planned to hang out again.
For the next 6 months, they continued to "hang out as friends" according to Jen and "date" according to Kris. They went to the movies, went bowling, and hung out at Jen's house. Kris would even help Jen's younger siblings make lanyards! They would hug on occasion, but Jen wasn't really comfortable with the touchy feely stuff. Often times, Kris and Jen would be sitting on the couch and Kris would scoot a little closer to her and Jen would move a little further away. This would continue until she was out of room on the couch to move! Regardless, Kris and Jen still had fun together!
In April of 1999, Jen came home to find a big container of M&Ms sitting on her porch. She opened the container and found a little note that said "Will you go to Junior Prom with me? Page me YES or NO." She recognized the pager number as Kris's. She was excited to be asked to go, so she paged him back YES.
To make a long story short, they went to Junior Prom together and danced the night away. At the end of the night, they climbed into Kris's Blazer and started the long drive home from the dance. Kris and Jen didn't talk much in the car, but Jen noticed Kris popping Altoids the whole way home. At this point she had finally figured out that Kris really liked her and that he wanted to try to kiss her by night's end. Since she had never kissed anybody before, she was quite nervous. As they pulled into her driveway, Kris didn't waste any time planting a wet one on her...LITERALLY! Once it was over, Jen said thank you and goodbye, entered her house and proclaimed to her mom "He slobbered all over me!!!"
About a week later, Kris showed up at Jen's door with a single red rose and asked her to be his girlfriend. Jen had never had a boyfriend before and wasn't sure she was ready for that, with the stress of school and everything. So she tried to gently let him down. It was a REALLY hard and horrible thing to do, but it seemed like the right thing for her at the time. Kris was upset, but bounced backed fast and everyone moved on...
To be continued... :-)
As Jen entered Mr. Sullivan's Algebra 2 class, she realized that he was assigning alphabetical order seating. She wandered to the left side of the classroom and ended up sitting right behind a boy named Kristopher D. Kris was a cute guy and was always ready to provide a good laugh. As he got to know Jen better, he would tease her endlessly about stressing out all the time over homework, tests, and school in general (...some things never change!).
Early in the month of December 1998, Jen was getting ready to leave with her family to go take pictures with her younger brother and sister. As they were about to leave, the phone rang. It was Kris! Jen was very surprised, but talked to him for a little while. He asked if she would like to go to the movies and thinking that she was just going out with a guy FRIEND, she said Yes. One night in mid-Dec, Jen's mom drove her to the Galaxy 8 theater to meet Kris. (She didn't exactly trust "some random guy" to drive her daughter all the way from CV to P-town at night!) Kris picked Elizabeth as the movie they were going to see. He thought it would be perfect! Jen, on the other hand, was somewhat shocked when the opening scene of the movie showed people being burned at the stake! Kris tried to hold Jen's hand a couple of times, but Jen just kept her hands on her lap not really thinking much of it. She wasn't much experienced in the boy department! All in all though, both Jen and Kris had a great time and they planned to hang out again.
For the next 6 months, they continued to "hang out as friends" according to Jen and "date" according to Kris. They went to the movies, went bowling, and hung out at Jen's house. Kris would even help Jen's younger siblings make lanyards! They would hug on occasion, but Jen wasn't really comfortable with the touchy feely stuff. Often times, Kris and Jen would be sitting on the couch and Kris would scoot a little closer to her and Jen would move a little further away. This would continue until she was out of room on the couch to move! Regardless, Kris and Jen still had fun together!
In April of 1999, Jen came home to find a big container of M&Ms sitting on her porch. She opened the container and found a little note that said "Will you go to Junior Prom with me? Page me YES or NO." She recognized the pager number as Kris's. She was excited to be asked to go, so she paged him back YES.
To make a long story short, they went to Junior Prom together and danced the night away. At the end of the night, they climbed into Kris's Blazer and started the long drive home from the dance. Kris and Jen didn't talk much in the car, but Jen noticed Kris popping Altoids the whole way home. At this point she had finally figured out that Kris really liked her and that he wanted to try to kiss her by night's end. Since she had never kissed anybody before, she was quite nervous. As they pulled into her driveway, Kris didn't waste any time planting a wet one on her...LITERALLY! Once it was over, Jen said thank you and goodbye, entered her house and proclaimed to her mom "He slobbered all over me!!!"
 |
| Jen & Kris at Junior Prom. Sorry for the blurriness. This was before digital photos!! |
About a week later, Kris showed up at Jen's door with a single red rose and asked her to be his girlfriend. Jen had never had a boyfriend before and wasn't sure she was ready for that, with the stress of school and everything. So she tried to gently let him down. It was a REALLY hard and horrible thing to do, but it seemed like the right thing for her at the time. Kris was upset, but bounced backed fast and everyone moved on...
To be continued... :-)
Love it, this is so awesome and such a great idea, can't wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane! Gonna miss you later at the SWE meeting!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely made me laugh a little bit=) I think this is great you're doing it! Actually, so great I think you should "publish it"/make a photo book w/the story for your future grandkids!
ReplyDelete