51. YOUNG LOVE IS A ROLLERCOASTER
My first serious girlfriend after high school worked at an amusement park. I would pick her up after work and we’d hang out because everyone there was pretty cool.
We started spending most of our time with another couple and another male employee. One night, it was super late and my girlfriend still hadn’t called me to pick her up.
She wasn’t replying to my texts, so I just started driving there thinking we’d all hang out in the park after hours as usual. I decided to swing by for some McDonald’s first and that’s when everything changed—I ended up seeing my girlfriend and her coworker splitting a milkshake.
It looked like a scene from a romantic movie. I messaged the couple we were friends with and found out that they had been going on dates for quite some time.
Years later, they got married, had a couple of kids, and then got divorced. I haven’t stayed in touch with anyone from the park. My ex did reach out on Facebook a couple of years later to see if I was going to our high school reunion.
I ignored the message and skipped the reunion. I couldn’t live in the past and there was no way I was going to repeat high school.