Written in the %@$%-ing stars: Part II

When we last left our heroine, she was marveling at fate and how it had managed to bring her potential soul mate back into her life...

After my parents and Mike's friend hung up with me, they went back to the campsite to tell Mike about what had happened. Toward the end of the week, my mother called me to tell me how great Mike was. He stopped by my parents' campsite for lunch every other day; he accompanied them to the general store; he built their fire for them. He was really winning them over! I was pleased to hear all of this, yet a little bit miffed that I was missing my own wooing. But, my parents gave Mike our phone number when the week was up.

He had told them that he had always wanted to go to King Richard's Faire, a renaissance fair that comes to my hometown of Carver every fall. Here's the sitch on KRF: 1.) My entire high school worked there. 2.) An actual Faire person was about one step up from a carny--crazy eyes that stared at you for too long after you ended a conversation with him, but no pedophile tendencies. 3.) On opening weekend, Carver residents could get in for free, which was pretty much the only reason that my mother took us there.

Anyway, soon after my parents came home, he called to speak with me. He seemed great on the phone and we made plans for him to come down to the Faire for opening weekend. That week, I kept expecting him to call, so we could finalize our plans. We had spoken a few times on the phone, but we hadn't pinned down the details. Saturday came...I still hadn't heard from him. So, I called him. He picked up and I said, "Hi!" And he said, "Hi." And then there was total silence. I asked him, "So, what time are you coming?" And he said, "I'm working today." There was no "sorry, I have to cancel" or "Let's get together next week instead." It was a little bit baffling. Could it be that he was actually only interested in my parents?? I said to him, "When are you thinking of coming down?" And he said sardonically, "When I'm not working..." I had no idea what else to say, so I hung up, completely confused and wondering what it was that I had done wrong.

I didn't talk to him for a year following that. I graduated from high school, and then the following September, I started college. I began to think about him. That last conversation that we had was weird. Why would he bother impressing my parents, or making plans with me, if he didn't want to get to know me? And look at how we had found each other! Clearly, we were meant to be! I wasn't going to give up that easily. I decided to write him a letter. In the letter, I let him know that I was living in the Boston area and if he ever wanted to get together, he could give me a call and I gave him my new number.

Two days later, he called. He explained that he had had a girlfriend the last time we had talked, and he thought that he could just hang out as friends, but it occurred to him that it wouldn't be a good idea. So, he blew me off. He knew it was stupid. He wished he had been honest. But, he wasn't dating her anymore and he wanted to get together. That sounded reasonable. We made plans for that Friday night and I felt that we were back on track!

That Friday, he actually showed up! We ended up having a great night! We went out to dinner. We walked around my campus. We shared a kiss on the rooftop of the university library with the Boston skyline in the background. I was thrilled. Now, the stars were talking! As he was leaving, we made plans to see each other the next day.

The next day, I gave him a call to see what time he was coming to get me. He picked up and I said, "Hi!" And he said, "Hi." And then there was total silence. I asked him, "So, what time are you coming?" And he said, "I'm working today." I said to him, "When are you thinking of coming down?" And he said sardonically, "Um, when I'm not working..." I thought, "This guy is giving me the EXACT same blowoff!" And even though I was upset that he was blowing me off after such a great date the night before, I was even more upset that he wasn't even bothering to think up another excuse!

I hung up, frustrated. We never spoke again. I looked up at the stars and said, "What the hell?" And they just shrugged their shoulders and said, "meh. there's only so much we can do."