He + I

Honesty is the best policy, right?
I'm definitely planning to do a series for this sometime.... when I have time ;)
For now here's the "condensed" version of the most wonderful friendship the world has ever known.
I'm not even lying to you.

I met Scott when I was in 7th grade. He lived in the neighborhood across from me and had a brother in my grade. I knew Josh and I knew he had a super popular brother, but I had never actually seen him. Finally at the West Hills Middle School Christmas concert of 2006, I saw him and I really was starstruck.

Scott was cool and he was in 9th grade and he was the son of the high school band director. Mr. Neves seemed to trust him so he put Scott in charge of the group warm-up. I just stared. Not because he was conducting warm-up, because I was falling in love ;) I don't think we talked, if we did I don't remember it. I just looked at him. I knew we had to be friends. I was going to do whatever it took.

Unfortunately, "whatever it took" meant joining marching band my sophomore year. It was still summer and school hadn't started yet but fall marching band season was about to. I got a call from a kid in my ward inviting me to come join MB and I swore I wouldn't do it. Marching band is so incredibly nerdy! My mom and older sister convinced me to go and I was like "ugh fine but I won't like it".

I didn't like it. I hated it. I knew two people and it was HARD. But, on my first day angel boy Scotty The Eternal Hotty Simpson (that is LITERALLY what people called him) came up and talked to me. I almost fell over. Again, no idea what was said but I do remember thinking "Scott Simpson is talking to me. He is actually talking to me." I was such a creep. Later that day he was recording contact info (cause he was the drum major and was in charge of all of us hoodlums) and I gave him my email address (atlanta_braves_cutie) and he was like CAN I CALL YOU CUTIE? And I dumbly said something like "albpiandgkas sure". Smooth.

Anyway, he also got my phone number and he texted me all night. I was so happy. But, a few days later I found out he had a girlfriend. I mean, I wasn't surprised. He was SCOTT SIMPSON for heaven's sake. I wasn't too bummed cause I had started taking fancy to another boy, so we just became really good friends. I loved being with him and all the other "olda boys". We spent quite a few nights in his car in my driveway just talking. He really listened to me and shared his actual feelings. All the guys I knew didn't do that. Scott was different and I loved him so much. He was one of my best friends and I am so thankful for that.

He graduated and moved on to bigger and better things (THE U!!!). He got "too cool" for everyone but I managed to still stay pretty solid friends with him. That year was hard. I really, really liked him but his mission was rapidly approaching. I was dating someone and he was dating everyone. I always hoped he would ask me out, but he never did. We confessed feelings for each other and then got in a huge fight over the whole thing. That was a sad time. We weren't even speaking to each other when he got his call. He didn't invite me over. He sent me the generic "Independence Missouri June 1st Spanish speaking" mass text that he sent to everyone and that was that.

Somehow we became friends again and I tried to be with him as much as I could before he left. I bawled so many times thinking about him being gone. I didn't want it and I wasn't ready. But, the day of his farewell came anyway and I spent the ENTIRE day at his house. I couldn't leave. I never wanted that last hug and I wasn't sure what my "super memorable last words" would be. At 8:50 I was finally forced to say goodbye and I hugged him forever.

We wrote pretty consistently for about 9 and a half months and then we only wrote each other three more times and he was home. I didn't "wait" by any means and he never asked me to. I spent my senior year as the band president, graduated, and went off to college and lived my life. I had some really crappy times my freshman year. I wasn't ready for him to be home but I was definitely ready for some changes in my life. He came home May 31, 2013 as good as new. He texted me that night and we texted all weekend until Tuesday night when he came to see me after work. It was surreal being with him again. I hugged him so tight and almost cried. We walked around Jordan Landing and held hands and talked until 1 am. The next day he took me on our first date and we have been inseparable since then.

We got pretty serious pretty fast, but can you blame us? We were such close friends for so long and we both knew what we wanted. We planned to get married some time that spring and kept on dating. He proposed to me on September 20, 2013 and we were married February 15, 2014. Sometimes I still can't believe that it's him. He's still the same boy I've always loved, but he's a man now. I am thankful for the hard work he has put into his life to be where he is today. I still don't believe it, but I am so happy.