Is any crush or fling really inexplicable? Who hasn’t fallen for the hot guy who inevitably turns out to be a moron? Most gut wrenching crushes can be explained by the common (however unfortunate) phenomenon of wanting what we can’t have. Although not completely enigmatic, I did fall for an extremely unlikely guy. Unattractive, arrogant, overweight, often unkind – but unfortunately the over confidence he exuded wasn’t misguided…the boy was clever, and that’s what I hated the most.
I love funny people, and Aaron certainly is that. At 15, I’d never met anyone as intelligent and witty as Aaron, of any age (and still haven’t). The more I hated him, the more I was drawn to him in spite of that. I was determined to catch him out. He told me he was a writer…I told him he was a wanker. By this stage everyone else had fallen in love with him, as most people inevitably do. I was fighting his annoying charm as much as I could. I was dating someone else…a hilarious Arab boarding student who eventually got expelled for pot. I gave up the time I should’ve been spending with him to volunteer to be in Aaron’s school play. I hated the thought of being on stage, but Aaron’s bizarre appeal was undeniable. We flirted mercilessly during rehearsal and within a month became best friends. We spoke every night on the phone for hours and shared everything with each other. I still can’t describe the connection we had…I guess it was that clichéd “click” that people describe.
I knew he was in love with me, (apparently I was the hot girl at school) but we never said anything to each other. He stood by while I had my first year long relationship with the single most boring person on the planet. Typical old thing, I was 16, he was tall, dark and sexy. But after the traumatic experience I’d had with an overly attentive teacher, he was what I needed…strictly catholic and therefore unthreatening. But Aaron was always there…I’d hang up the phone after talking to the boyfriend and call Aaron, relieved to be able to laugh with him (and occasionally take part in a bit of phone sex) for the rest of the night. Aaron’s mum was my art teacher, and was quite a liberal parent. She let Aaron have 6 months off school to write, then enrolling him in a more creative school in Melbourne (Australia), an hour away. I so wanted to follow him but was at my horrible private school on a scholarship and didn’t want to disappoint the folks. They’d already shelled out significant amounts of money at this pompous school that churned out doctors, lawyers, engineers and economists. All I wanted was to be a painter and a musician…which is probably why I also wanted Aaron. So I made my move.
I went to stay at his house. Apart from having done the whole phone sex thing, we were always very physical with each other (I often turned the other cheek when he put his hand up my skirt in English class). His parents and sister finally went to bed and we put on a nice romantic DVD…Robin Williams doing stand up. It was whilst rolling around with laughter together, after 2 and a half years of flirtation that we began to make out – on the couch, floor, kitchen bench…everywhere we could until 4am. The love story continued for 4 years, until recently when we called it quits. We are still the best of friends and I’m sure I will always love that unlikely gangly, overweight 14 year old boy wearing way too tight jeans and unsightly Hawaiian shirt…after all, who could ever compare to that?
