The Girl

Introduction
This is a page dedicated to me and Cassie’s story. Here, you will find out how we met to how we’ve managed to get this far in our relationship. The story is split into 3 parts and the parts will be inserted on this page periodically. Check back often if you want a good love story! Thanks and God bless! Updates are at the bottom of the page. Navigation links for this will soon be up.

Updates

2/4/09
Wow. Looking at this update page, I now fully realize how long it took me. Apologies, readers. Sorry, guys. Scroll down for part 2, though! It has been added.

8/16
My apologies again, readers. Due to the timeliness of our house renovation, I had to remove my desktop from my room. Unfortunately, it had the original file of “The Girl.” I am unable to finish the 2nd part of this story. We are looking at delays for another week. Again, my greatest apologies. The Bible says that my “yes should be a yes.” I feel bad that I can’t follow through with my “yes.” Sorry, guys.

8/7
Sorry guys! I’ve been sick lately and this week has been really busy. The second part of the story will be finished closer to next week. This weekend, I’m going to be out for our FBC Joint Family Camp. Sorry if I’m proving to be unreliable!

8/3
I am back from summer camp, readers! Thanks for the patience. The second part should be done by the end of this week. Thanks again for all of the support!
Peace, love, and Jesus.

7/24
Part 2 will be up in the coming weeks. Next week, I will be away from a computer for 5 days. So, I think it’s realistic to say that it’s going to be done around the first week of August.

7/22
The first part has been posted. Enjoy.
EDIT: Cassie has fixed some errors in the story. Sorry, I’m a bad boyfriend. 7/22
The first part of the story should be up by the end of today!
As for specifics, I’ve decided to split this thing into 3 parts. I was thinking about 4 parts, but that would take too long. Not only that, but it would make it overly expansive. There would be too much to include.
So, stay tuned! THE FIRST PART IS TO COME SOON!

7/21
The first paragraphs have been written! Oh, man. This is going to be epic.
As for other updates, I’ve decided to split the story into parts.
So, part 1 is to come up in the next few days.
Stay tuned.

7/19
This page is for Cassie.
The story of how we met is what will be on this page. Check back often for updates!
Besides, who doesn’t like a good love story?
As if you get enough of those in the theaters. Psh.

“The Girl,” Part 1 of 3

On February 9, 2007, it was a rainy day. At the end of the school session, everyone was ready to leave the American High School campus. People went to their lockers, gathered their binders and books, and splashed to their cars. With only a few months left in the second semester, students were excited for summer. The year was almost done.

For us seniors, it was going to be the last one. Once June rolled up, we’d say good-bye to the most trying 4 years of our lives thus far. Acceptance letters flew in, and most of us knew what kind of future was in store for us.

I was expecting to get into California State University, East Bay. I never really considered being rejected. Although senioritis kicked in early, I didn’t feel like they wouldn’t take me. I could have packed it in for some SAT II’s, but I got lazy. That was alright, though. I didn’t think that my 1700 SAT score could contend with some of my peers’ as well. I was headed for a State University, and that was fine. It wasn’t a problem.

As I went to my locker, everyone was scurrying around. People frantically handled their cell phones, making calls to parents and ride arrangements. No one wanted to be stuck at school in this weather. Unfortunately, I was. And, one call to my dad was all I needed. My car was at the shop for maintenance, searing a big hole in my dad’s wallet. At this time, I’d usually be chauffeuring people around. But, nearing 200,000 miles, I think my Accord was long overdue for a first check up. Rest assured I knew that it would pull through alright. It wasn’t a problem.

Friends were never a problem. I knew that the whole crew—Anele, Ivan, Rahul, Kenny, Adrian, Darwin, Chris, Jason, and myself—would always be a unit. I could always fall back on them, and vice versa. From late night runs to online games to jogging around, we’d always be there for each other.

As I stepped outside alone, I reflected on what really bothered me.

Despite having great friends and a future ahead of me, I still felt there was something missing. Something missing at my right hand side. The relationships I had in the past never really worked out. Girls came and went. Some became friends, some crippled my self-esteem, and one totaled my love life.

In my junior year, there was one girl I was interested in. She was a very attractive girl with a large entourage of suitors. I was one. To make a long story short, things didn’t work between us. We hit it off at first, passing notes and giving long hugs, fueling the flirting cycle. On her birthday, Anele revealed to me that she had a boyfriend already. I was devastated. After that, I was too beaten to move. My heart ached. I was tired of looking.

In the beginning of my senior year, I made my case known to my Lord.

“Lord, I won’t look anymore. I don’t need to be so restless and seek her on my own. You will bring her to me. When the time is right, you will bring her to me.”

My chucks hit the outside with a splash. It was still raining. I made my way to the trees and waited for my dad behind the school. I stood with the non-driving crowd, huddled under the only public cover from the rain. The trees have been there for a while and were thick with foliage. They provided decent cover.

One by one, people began to disappear. I looked down and fiddled with my phone. Every time I looked up, there was at least one person gone. Within 10 minutes, it seemed like I was alone. I leaned against the tree and scanned the parking lot. Everything was gray. Looking up or down didn’t make much of a difference. The skies were as uniform in color as the sidewalk. It was the same either way.

I let out a sigh. My head slumped down. Despite the rain, the Track & Field and Cross-Country team were running laps around the school. Just then, someone spoke. Actually, someone shouted.

Someone was in front of me, facing the parking lot. She was hooded and faced the team. She was cheering them on, greeting everyone as they jogged by. She punched the air to encourage them, arms flailing around in her hoody. She was loud. Her voice echoed through the adjacent neighborhood. Its sound competed with the joviality of the chirps in the spring. It was interesting to see someone who could be so sunny in this weather. Who was she? She was such a contrast to everything else in the background. She was someone I haven’t seen before. I didn’t see her face yet and she still had all of my attention. There was something about her… fascinating.

I brushed it off, though. She’d probably never talk to me. She’d probably never interact with me. We’d probably never know each other. My eyes drew back to my cell phone screen. I fiddled with “Snake,” wondering when my dad was going to come. As I checked the time, I saw some black flats set before me. I raised my eyes and found that they had legs, too. A torso as well. The body had arms attached to it which waved at me, and a hand that launched toward me. Attached at the top was a head of hooded black hair and a bright, pretty face.

She was smiling straight at me.

“The Girl,” Part 2 of 3
She was beaming in her sunny demeanor. Then, I did the only thing that I could think of at the time. I stuck my hand straight out to shake hers.

“Hi, my name’s Winston. What’s yours?”

“I’m Cassandra, but you can call me Cassie.”

Through the rain, we talked. It was strange, to be honest. There were no awkward silences. There was no hesitation to speak. There was familiarity. I was talking to this stranger more comfortably than those I’ve known for years. She was something unique. My dad was running late, so we just talked. It could have gone on forever and we wouldn’t run out of things to say to each other. As the incessant rain drops splashed on the sidewalk, so did our conversation flow.

I was also pretty impressed at how mature she was. She said that she was a freshman and I was incredulous. There was no way that someone this intriguing was parallel to the troublemakers of the school. I was amazed.

One of the more interesting things about our interaction was that I wasn’t really looking. She just appeared in front of me. I wasn’t expecting her and she really got me thinking. Nevertheless, God puts people in our lives for a reason.

Nearly 30 minutes had passed and I didn’t want it to end. I wanted the skies to stay gray. I wanted the rain to pour. I wanted the ground to become so soaked and mushy that if I took a step, my feet would be stuck to the lawn. I didn’t want to go.

Unfortunately, the rain did stop. The skies brightened. My dad pulled up. It was time for me to go. As my dad revved up, I gazed at her through the window. As we waved to each other, my heart was being tugged. A rope was planted at the tree where we were talking and the tension increased the further we drove. I reclined the seat to ease the sensation.

After the weekend, school started up again. The AP exams were a month away and I could barely remember what Mr. Rojas said about the determinants of supply and demand. I was thinking that I’d be okay in English; I thought myself as a decent writer, at least by Mrs. Martin’s standards. Statistics was a whole other animal. It was pretty gnarly, foaming at the mouth, oozing of equations and concepts that I did not fully grasp. With so little time left, it wasn’t really a good look.

As I sat in front of my computer that night, the books jeeringly sat with their titles facing me. Patiently they waited. They knew that if anything could subdue my consciousness, it would be the words contained in their pages. My fingers quickly shot to the keyboard. In order to escape the malignant hard-covers, I went to MySpace. I was greeted by a “new message” notification. It was from Cassie.

As time passed, numbers were exchanged and, as with any two people getting to know each other, the number of zeroes on the phone bill skyrocketed. There was no stalling in sight, either. Then, the notes came. I became “Some Filipino Guy” and she was my “Tree Buddy on Rainy Days.” Something was growing inside me. To me, it wasn’t really a concern. This girl had a lasso on my thoughts and herded them all into the pen. The thought of the hot orange, searing branding tool was cool against my skin. To some of my friends, though, it was a concern.

Only two weeks had passed and I was already thinking of asking her out. The feelings I had were usually things I’d develop in months for a girl. Surely, it grew. Some miracle-grow was shoved into my heart and it pulsed through my arteries. The letters grew more frequent. The conversations ran through the night. “Is this really happening?” I thought. “What’s wrong with me?” Friends brought up the disparity in age and maturity level. I’ve always been one for self control. Modesty and reserve were my tools. But, for some reason, I couldn’t climb over this situation. I was in my senior year and leaving for college soon. Did I really want to complicate things? Regardless, I was seriously compelled to act.

A month deep, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

I had to ask her out.