Take Two

Okay, so here is the second date. Not as amusing, but still entertaining nonetheless. And sorry it's kind of long. It was a long night...

Dating Journal 2

The second date I went on this semester was one of the most awkward experiences of my life. Let me give you a little background. There was this missionary that was serving in the area I was living during winter semester. He was a nice boy; but also an extremely awkward one. Bless his heart. He was clearly very admiring even while on his mission. Unfortunately though, I was never able to return his interest. I felt bad, but alas. The phrase “She’s just not that in to you…” rang through my mind several times. So Elder Forsgren found out that I go to BYU-Idaho. He was very excited, because he is actually from Rexburg! Isn’t that great news? Not really. So he quickly wanted to know when I would be going back up there. I told him I would be returning to Rexburg in April to attend the Summer Semester. To this he responded, “Well, I’m getting released in March…so you know… We’ll do something.” It was a very awkward situation. I didn’t want to reject him a date while he was on his mission. Isn’t this the reason why missionaries are not supposed to talk to girls?? But alas. Elder Forsgren asked me on a date while he was on his mission. I just nodded my head slightly in what I hoped was a very noncommittal way.
April came, and I moved back up to Idaho. I did not call Elder Forsgren, who had so conviently given me his business card with all of his information on it. I was slightly worried about running into him up here. It’s not that big of a town, and I knew that it was bound to happen at some time or another. I did get a rather interesting phone call from my Step-Father. He informed me that Elder Forsgren had called his former companion in Arizona (who is still on his mission!!) to ask my parents for my phone number. Luckily, they kindly refused. So that was kind of a close call, but it didn’t stop the inevitable. I saw Elder Forsgren at stadium singing, and he was pretty excited to see me. I was not so thrilled to see him. But I knew that I date was going to happen no matter what, so I decided to just let it happen. I tried to think positive. If nothing else, Elder Forsgren could be a good friend. However, he had a little bit more than friendship on his mind.
So I went on a date with Elder Forsgren. (Whose name is actually Brandon, but it was too weird to actually call him that. So he was Elder Forsgren) It was so awkward. Luckily it was set up to be a double date, so I begged my roommate to come with me. She took pity on me and came. However it turned out to be just as awkward for her, because her date was two hours late. That was fantastic. So Elder Forsgren has planned it all out: we went to a campsite to roast hot dogs and make smores. Sadly, he forgot the buns. So we got to wait for two hours and make awkward small talk, while my poor roommate Jessica sat there. It was quite bad. The interesting thing was, with most people your conversation is only “small talk” for a while until you become more comfortable with one another. Sadly it was all awkward small talk with Elder Forsgren. His friend finally came, and we ate cold hot dogs. Why were they cold you may ask? Because he wanted to roast them when we first got there. So that sat and got cold in the two hours that we were waiting. I had completely burned my hot dog, and to make sure I didn’t make that foolish mistake again, he made me a smore. Which was, granted, a very sweet gesture, but it took the fun out of it all… But oh well. It was a refreshing act of kindness. I normally just date jerks, so his care and concern was very touching. And if it had been anyone else I may have been attracted to him because of it. However I was not. During our awkward small talk we decided to go see a movie. That was all my idea, because it took up about two hours of not having to talk to each other. I thought it was a very smooth move.
The drive to the theatre was one of the most comical experiences of my life. He kept telling me all of the things we were going to do together. I mostly stayed silent for those moments in the conversation. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that this was a onetime thing at that moment in our date. It was kind of annoying because he kept trying to show off for me. I find that terribly obnoxious when any man does that, but it was exceptionally bad with him. He would accelerate really fast and look over at me to see if I was watching. I would look the opposite way out of the window so he could not actually see me smiling at the hilariousness of the moment. Then he decided to impress me with his sound system. This too was terribly unsuccessful. The bass in his truck was up so loud that the vibrations from it began to hurt my back. Then he decided to roll the windows down so that everyone could see how cool he was. I was so embarrassed. I just kept thinking that if anyone saw me in this ridiculous situation my life would end. If not, I would have some humorous explaining to do. Luckily the drive was short and we went in to the movie.
Once again the awkwardness of the date brought a smile to my face. Every time my hand would move in any way, Elder Forsgren got really excited, like I wanted him to make a move or something. So I sat with my arms folded tightly across my chest for the entirety of the show. About half way through the show I realized that I was pushed up against the opposite side of my seat, allowing for the most space physically possible to be in between me and my date. That too made me laugh. At the end of the movie we had about 45 minutes until curfew, but I had had enough. I pulled the “I’m just really tired” card, which gratefully worked. However the three minute car ride became the most awkward part of the date. Elder Forsgren had obviously thought that the night had gone extremely well, because he was practically planning out our future together. He asked me what I was doing for the Fourth. Luckily I had already made plans to go to Boise. (That was a blessing and a half) He was so terribly sad by this news that I almost felt bad. Almost. But then he told me how he wanted me to come to Sunday dinner the next night, and that he wanted me to meet his parents, and the rest of his family, and all of his friends. I was somewhat frightened. He then wanted to know my plans for next weekend. I told him that I didn’t know what my plans were, I would have to check. He then wanted to know if I was going to stadium singing, and if he could give me a ride. I assured him that it was nice, but completely unnecessary. Luckily, by this point, we had reached my doorstep, and all that was left was the awkward scene that always follows. He gave me a hug, but held on for a little too long. Just long enough to further confirm all of my fears. He then told me that he was sorry that I had been so stressed with school. But to not ever worry about it again. “If you ever get stressed out, just call me! That’s what I’m here for!” Oh dear. He thinks we are dating. This thought terrified me. But alas, it was real life. I finally manage to get into my apartment; I start laughing about everything that had happened that night. When too my utter horror, I see Elder Forsgren, bending down to peak into my window!!! That just about sealed the deal. Not only was that incredibly creepy, but he also say we smiling, giving him the false hope that I had had a fabulous time on the date. I was genuinely concerned. However, this story has a happy ending. He called me on Sunday night about stadium singing, but I was on the other line, and “forgot” to call him back. (Probably not the best way to handle this on my part…) He didn’t call the rest of the week until Friday night. I was at work and happily missed his call. He has not called back since, so I do believe that he has gotten the message. All is well. I will give credit to him, because I am normally not used to being treated well on dates, so his kindness was a nice change. Too bad he had to be awkward and creepy. And thus ends the story of Elder Forsgren. And thus ends the tale of my awkward/horrible dates of summer semester. Once again, I was grateful that the most I got out of this date was a few extra points in my Dating and Courtship class.

Thank you, and good night