Our "How We Met" story...

 Jimmy and I at a concert

It was the beginning of my sophomore year in college, and it was our first floor meeting in our dorm. My ex and I had broken up (again) and I had lost weight over the summer from playin' basketball with the some guys from work, so I was feelin pretty good about the school year. I wanted the new school year to feel more like college to me... more parties, more drinking, and more hot guys.

So, my roommate and I were sitting in the circle, listening to the RA talk about rules, etc... when a door opened and out walked Jimmy, in a towel, with the confidence of someone who always walked around in front of 20 people in a towel. As he smiled at everybody, my eyes ran down his body... from his awesome chest and muscular arms... okay, well that's where my eyes stopped. He was hot, that much I knew, but judging by the nipple ring, way too crazy for me. But at least he was something to look at.

I don't remember seeing him much after that. The next semester, though, he was in Calculus 1 with me. I remember the first time he talked to me. I didn't know anyone in Speed School, so I was pretty shy. We happened to be walking in class at the same time and he said something similiar to "You live down the hall from me, right?" To which I said "Yep." And he said "We'll have to do homework together." And I said "Sounds good, I need a good study buddy." Or something like that. I silently applauded myself for not getting embarrassed or saying something stupid, but knew that we would never do homework together... that's just something you say to people to have something to say.

 Jimmy and I, Summer of 2006

After a couple of weeks, we happened to be walking to class at the same time, so we walked together. I asked him about where he was from (we were from near the same area), etc... and I hoped he didn't think I was boring. By this point, my ex and I were probably back together, so romantic inclinations were shot, but Jimmy was a nice guy, and I needed that.

I think by this point I started skipping class. Engineering calculus is hard, especially if your background in any calculus is minimal. I started giving up. This was when Jimmy started knocking on my door so that we could walk to class together. I think I skipped a quiz and a test before Jimmy started asking questions as to why I hadn't been at the test. Once I told him that I just didn't understand the stuff and it was pointless for me to waste the graders' time, he told me to come over to his on-campus work and he'd help. I figured it was just another empty-something-to-say thing, but he called me that day and told me where to meet him. Eventually, I went over there everyday to work on Calculus homework with him.

In between homeworks, my roommate and I, along with Jimmy and his roommate hung out a couple times and started becoming friends. Jimmy and my roommate would eventually hook up, something for which I was a little jealous..but happy for her at the same time, b/c well, Jimmy was hot.

The next year, we were still studying together in a group of 4. One night, after a night of drinking/studying (I was only studying), Jimmy kept saying he wanted to marry me. Like I said, he was drinking, so it wasn't any big deal and Jimmy had many girls to keep him company, so I laughed it off. He insisted on walking me downstairs that night, and carrying my backpack. My boyfriend-at-the-time wouldn't even open doors for me, so it was weird having a guy who would carry my backpack. When we got to my car, he told me to be careful on my way home, then he leaned over and kissed me. I was so stunned I didn't kiss him back, but he pulled away and I said a quick bye and jumped in the car. He called me that night to make sure I got home alright and I just laughed and said of course.

 Jimmy and I, in the boxed seats at a concert.

I decided the best thing to do would be pretend nothing had happened out of the ordinary that night, since he probably wouldn't remember it anyway, and was probably only flirting. I will admit that it gave me butterflies that he had given me attention that went a little beyond friendship, but I knew that our situations weren't good for each other.

I always had a 'thing' for Jimmy. He was 'mine' in ways that didn't have to do with relationships. He took me under his wing when I needed it the most, and always helped no matter how many times I asked the question. Sometimes I'd get jealous (like when his gf called his apartment while we were all drinking together) and even though I realized how dumb it was, I didn't understand why I would be jealous. It was Jimmy, we were friends, he would always be Jimmy.

Fast forward to the night we all went to 4th street and the dancing that made sparks between us... and everything came full circle. Now he's truly mine, and all that encompasses. Crazy to think that all came from one late-entry in a towel.

 Jimmy and I, before his 2007 work Christmas party