MFEO - Part IV

As I was getting ready for my first date with Scott (apart from the bike ride) I was in high flutter. Think Elizabeth Bennett approaching Pemberley for the first time. Scott, dealing with his own case of nerves, was calling his sister down in Provo to ask whether or not he should tuck is shirt in or leave it out. The doorbell rang and there he was . . with flowers nonetheless. Major score. We then headed off to the restaurant and, after getting a bit lost, had a great Italian dinner. It was so easy and comfortable; the best date ever hands down. After dinner we went to a local production of Fiddler on the Roof where we tried not to whisper in each others' ears too much. Later when he was walking me to my door I asked him if he wanted to come in for a drink of water. He did and we ended up talking on the couch for half an hour or so. I was so happy.

Now let's psycho-analyze the evening a bit before moving on shall we? Scott works very hard to send the message to Rebekah that he is interested in her by bringing flowers, taking her to an Italian restaurant (her favorite country/food) and by taking her to a play because he knew she loved live theater. Of course Rebekah was in too much of a flutter to put it all together but thankfully her father picked up Scott's message immediately and pointed it out to a giddy Rebekah the next morning. But I kept telling myself that Scott was just super nice and he probably goes through such efforts for every girl he goes out with. My Dad just shook his head smiling.

The next day was Sunday and of course Scott and I saw each other as we made announcements and talked about the activities for the following week. On Monday I texted Scott (again not brave enough to call) telling him what a nice time I had and was wondering if I could make dinner for him that coming Saturday. Scott was so excited he showed his Dad the text.

I honestly think that week was the longest week of my life. We had several Young Single Adult activities and with each one I got more and more distracted. Nobody knew we had gone out and had absolutely no idea of the emotional tidal wave surging between us. Friday stands out very clear in my memory. It was June 3rd and one of the first really hot days of the summer so I decided to go swimming and called a couple of girls from the Ward to see if they wanted to come over too. They did and after a while we got talking about boys. They asked me if I was interested in anyone. What should I say? If I said that I liked Scott and then nothing came of it the whole Ward would know and it would be oh so awkward. Opting for the safe route I said that I was going to Italy in a few months and that I wasn't really interested in dating right now. I posed the same question at them. The girl not in our Ward wasn't at all but the girl in my Ward said, and I quote: "I have a sort of fascination with Scott Neuner." Stab my heart with a dagger! After a pause I asked her if she had gone out with him. She said that he had taken her out about a month ago when she had first moved home. Needless to say the swimming party didn't last much longer.

That evening after my younger sister's high school graduation (an important detail later on) we went out to eat, ironically, at the same place Scott had taken me the week before. More salt in the wound. After that the Young Single Adults all met at my house where we were going to carpool to a party given by another Ward's YSAs. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, Scott, me and a few others were out sitting on the curb. I then leaned over to Scott and told him how when I was in elementary school I would throw rocks at the power lines while waiting for the bus. So we then stretched out with our heads on the curb and tried hitting the power lines with pebbles. This memory stands out in both our minds because as lame as it was it was the best part of the evening for both of us and it made Scott realize that the time had come to say something. Of course I was completely oblivious. The more fun we had together the more I grieved thinking that I've finally found a guy that I'm interested in but so are all the other girls.

I was a complete wreck. I think I lost 5 pounds in 24 hours. I wasn't crying, after all Scott and I had gone out on 1 date. We hadn't held hands, kissed or anything. Why was I so upset? So the next day, before my date with Scott, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I called my older sister. There I was lying out in the sun telling my sister how much I liked Scott but that other girls liked him too. I told her I had no idea how he felt about me and that I was therefore resolved to just stay out of it so as not to offend the girls that I felt responsible for being their YSA leader and all. She then asked me more specifically what I thought of Scott. General gushing then ensued: I've never been so comfortable with a boy before, he's smart, he's righteous, he's humble and fun, he has a great family, he's kind and thoughtful, etc. My dear sister told me that of course all the other girls are interested in Scott; that's how it always is with the really outstanding ones. But she then said that with something as important as this you don't worry about being polite, you fight for the best man out there. She encouraged me to not be so guarded emotionally and to just relax and see where things went; even if it meant getting hurt in the end. Seriously, it was the best pep talk I've ever heard. Feeling determined to put myself out there emotionally realizing that this was war and I was going to fight for Scott to the bitter end (no matter how many casualties), I started getting ready for my date that night.