By By Adam Prestridge
It was nearing Halloween. The leaves had already turned colors and there was a slight nip in the air.
I was in the eighth grade and was finally a teenager. In fact, my 14th birthday was nearing, so I guess you could say I was reaching that time in my life when the only things that mattered were girls.
Girls were definitely on the brain no matter what class I was in, English or math.
Girls made doing class work a chore because they were in every corner of the classroom. It made it hard to concentrate because up until now girls weren't that big of a deal.
Mortimer Jordan High School was a seventh through twelfth grade school so all the students roamed the halls together. That too made it difficult to make that transition from one classroom a day to seven different classes. Lets just say that my locker was full of tardy slips.
Entering a school full of "older women" for a young guy like myself was like a foot race. There were more guys than girls enrolled so you had to act quickly or you would be the only one in your group of friends still single. I knew from the start that in order to fit in, a girlfriend was a must. So I began taking applications, more commonly referred to as notes.
See back then, all you had to do was tell a friend of the girl you were interested in and they would do all the work. Notes would begin to circulate throughout school until all background checks were complete and the girl of interest came back with an answer.
In order to be noticed by the girls, guys had to dress "cool" as well. Girls aren't the only ones who care about appearance.
It was a constant battle with mother to make sure I was wearing the "cool" clothing to attract the ladies. Just like today, I was obsessed with my hair back then too, only then my hairdo required so much hairspray that I look back and realize that it was definitely a hair don't.
Up until this time, I had still never kissed a girl, but I lied to my friends every time they asked. I had a reputation to uphold and didn't want that note to begin circulating throughout history class.
It was uncommon for guys to write notes to their buddies about girls, but I was a class clown and didn't know any other way to get Wendy's attention. Wendy was a freshman and was really cute, but as all upperclassman, she didn't really know who I was. She only knew my name because we had study hall together making it not only difficult to do class work, but homework as well during a class period intended to help students finish some of their after-school assignments.
The plan worked perfect. I wrote the note making sure Wendy's name was clearly stated, waited on the teacher to look up at the class and tossed it onto Nick's desk. Hook, line and sinker.
The teacher took up the note and in attempts to embarrass me or maybe teach me a lesson read it out loud. It was short, sweet and to the point. After the teacher finished, I had become the sweet one. By the end of the day we were boyfriend and girlfriend.
A couple of weeks passed and Wendy invited me to her house with some friends to watch Halloween movies. Her mother cooked dinner for all of us and popped us some popcorn before the movies. It was a memorable evening to say the least.
Even though the palms of my hands were sweaty and I was about shake out of my Nike's, I managed to say goodnight with my first kiss. During the brief kiss I felt like I was floating through the air or maybe touring the galaxy.
I was quickly pulled away from my out-of-body experience by the sound of "honey, get in the car." It was my mom in the front yard to pick me up. What a bummer.
Wendy and I dated up until Valentine's Day of the following year. I gave her some flowers and candy.
We didn't date too much longer after that, but I will never forget that night.
Do you remember your first kiss?
Adam Prestridge is publisher of the Atmore Advance. His column appears weekly.