“Santa, I Want A Kiss From My Girlfriend” (Part 3 of 9)

On another day, after Christmas, I ran the seven miles to Laraine’s house and spent the day with her and her family. She played the viola at school. On that day she played a record of the 1812 Overture, which she was playing in the orchestra. My Mom, at home, wondered where I was. She knew I was running to Laraine’s house but wanted to know why I hadn’t come home. It was late afternoon and she went to my room and found my little black book and called Laraine’s number. Mom was very willing to come get me.
That New Year’s Eve I took Laraine to our Ward’s youth dance. When it was over, we kissed all the way to her house as my Dad drove the van.
My parents were just about shouting for joy when Laraine broke up with me a few weeks later. I however, was devastated. I tried to win her back by doing intensely juvenile things like writing her obnoxiously long love letters and cutting all my fingernails and giving them too her. However, she still let me eat lunch with her and her friends. After a month of this she told me that she’d rather be friends with Darth Vader or Satan rather than talk to me. I’d learned a very important lesson, and I decided I would not go steady with anyone until after my mission. As can be expected, there was ice between Laraine and I. Whenever she saw me, which was often since we went to the same school, she would turn away. On the last day of school, however, Laraine broke the silence and asked me to sign her year book. We were friends again, but never in the same way. We dated once that summer and one other time a few years later. Mostly we were just good friends and she would draw maps for me of how to get to girl’s houses that I was going to date. One Sunday evening she came to my house with her boyfriend that she had been dating steadily for a long time. I thought they were going to make an announcement, but instead she said to me, “I need to tell you something out on the porch.” I went out the door with her and then she planted a big kiss on me. I looked at her very surprised. “That’s for always being so sweet,” she said.