Thursday is when things started to get complicated (of course). I sat by Kevin during the weekly variety show, and I honestly don't remember anything about it but sitting by Kevin and laughing and talking the entire time. Another boy counselor who I had also become close friends with noticed, and apparently didn't like it. He told me we "needed to talk," and it was serious.
He took me to a break room and got on Facebook where he started showing me pictures of his family. Then he told me that I should be careful with Kevin, because he was a player. I asked him how he knew all this. He told me that he had been in Virginia with Kevin and there was another girl involved, and that she and Kevin were planning on getting married when they both returned to BYU. Then he showed me pictures of this girl on Facebook (which I see was his plan all along.)
I was devastated. Absolutely. I felt so played by Kevin, and felt so good about us and here I was being told that he was a player and I shouldn't get involved. I actually laid on my bed and cried to my mom about this boy who I barely knew. She asked me why I was sad about this boy already and said, "Do you even know his last name?" (I didn't) I barely knew him at all, but I couldn't pretend that I wasn't already completely infatuated with him. It hurt me so much. I avoided Kevin for the rest of the day, and most of the next day until the second dance of the camp. This particular dance everyone dressed up and it is kind of a big goodbye to that week of campers.
I had to look amazing. I wore a black dress and curled my hair, and wore heels. (You should know, it is a rare occurrence for me to ever be wearing heels). I walked into the cafeteria and all of the younger camper boys in my group started cheering and cat-calling. I am only sharing this for the sake of the story. I knew I looked good - I had to. I wanted Kevin to notice me, and to pick me instead of her (so desperate I know). I saw him sitting at a table and when I looked at him he diverted his attention and started talking to someone next to him - but every time I looked over at him, he was looking at me.
That night at the dance I got put in charge of guarding the back entrance of the dance and making sure no one got past (such a glamorous job I know). Basically it meant I was isolated from the rest of the group, and couldn't dance with my kids until my shift ended. Kevin came and sat by me much to the disappointment of the girl campers and the girl counselors. He asked me why I had been avoiding him and I got really angry and came right out and asked him about this other girl and if they were planning on getting married and why he led me on, etc. etc. (I maybe even started crying a little - but just a little bit.)
He stared at me for a minute with an open mouth and then started laughing. I was so mad. I didn't want him to laugh - I wanted him to feel sorry and hug me and tell me that she didn't exist. Instead he just laughed. When he finally calmed down he said, "I never liked her. We didn't date, we didn't do anything. I never even said I would talk to her after we left and I haven't talked to her since. I really like you Mandy."
Right on cue, before I even had time to take in what he had just told me, the boy who told me the rumor in the first place entered the scene. He said, "Mandy I call I get to dance with you on the first dance. I don't want any players stealing you all night."
Right. In front. Of Kevin.
And then it all made sense. This boy liked me, but could see I preferred Kevin, so told me this rumor so I wouldn't trust Kevin and give him a chance. I felt so relieved. I was released from my isolated shift and danced with my campers for the rest of the dance, and still didn't have a chance to dance with Kevin. The night ended and I left feeling like a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders.
Saturday was our first real date, (since the second set of campers would not come to Plymouth until Monday.) We laid underneath this enormous willow tree on the Plymouth University campus grounds and people watched on Main Street. We talked about our dreams, our memories of that past week, and my plans to go to Hawaii for school in the fall, but never did we talk about our future. Together. Later we walked to a pizza place and then went straight back to the tree where we had sat all day long. We didn't hold hands, or kiss, or cuddle, or even touch at all. That would come later. Instead we made up for 20 years in my case, and 22 in his, of time apart from each other. But it almost felt instead like we were just reuniting again. Like we had known each other all along.
At one point in the day a young family walked past us - students at Plymouth. The mother pushed the baby boy in the stroller, and the father carried his three year old daughter on his shoulders. At one point he set her down and chased her around on the grassy hill in front of us. When he caught her he would throw her up in the air while she screamed with laughter. I watched his wife's eyes, so full of love for her husband, and her children and saw myself in her place. For an instant I saw Kevin with a child on his shoulders, and me pushing another child in the stroller. And I knew that he would be my husband someday.
And now he is.
