Roboprom Part 7: The Ring; The End

This is the last part. By this point in the story, I'm sitting with the girl on a couch. I was planning to attend college north of where I'd grown up, which was especially far from the girl. We would part ways this night, and neither of us wanted to.

We'd just kissed, and were in the final minutes of being together. I gave her a bunch of letters I'd written over the days of the trip, and we cuddled in the hotel lobby until the moment began to tear up a little in the seams. She walked me to a door, and said she had to go. Our hands were tangled, and I felt an inorganic tickle fall into my hand. I thought it was my guitar pick. She looked me right to the core and said
"I promise I'll see you again."

We held eye contact until the door closed, and I looked in my hand and saw a ring.
I wore the ring like some backwards Frodo Baggins through the Summer. I had it hung on a chain that eventually broke and was replaced. She and I kept writing more and more meaningful letters until I made the decision to attend school where she lived. She was excited at first, then we grew increasingly distant until the day I arrived in her town where I'd never been.

Once I was admitted into my college dorm, I wound up on a stage where I told this whole story to everyone in the audience. The host, an expert on the subject of dating, said that the girl probably had a boyfriend. I didn't believe the host. I went to my dorm and set up a date with the girl. She left me a message later that night saying she had a boyfriend and couldn't meet me.

I wrote her a letter, my feeble parting words along with the ring, and went on.

I turned her into literature. This act was inspired by a line from [500] Days of Summer, if you've ever seen it. There was a lot of emotion around the RoboProm girl, and I'm glad every day that I sat by her at the robotics stadium all those days ago. Walt Whitman has some really good words on my last sentiment of the RoboProm story, so I'll leave you in his tender care. Good night and hopeful days to all who have read this.

"Sometimes with one I love I fill myself with rage for fear I effuse unreturn'd love,
But now I think there is no unreturn'd love, the pay is certain one way or another,
(I loved a certain person ardently and my love was not returnt'd,
Yet out of that I have written these songs.)"
-Walt Whitman

Roboprom Part 6: To St. Louis!

I want to finish this story and go to Ireland, so this will be my second-to-last blogged account of it.

The girl and I both had a ticket to attend the FIRST Robotics national competition in St. Louis. As it turned out, both of our robotics teams had booked the same hotel, which was very exciting. I had plans to dazzle the girl.

For the sake of building tension, bear in mind that there was a period where she almost stayed home because she would be short of the necessary cash. She did raise the money, of course.

Now, let it be known the major consideration I'm holding through the whole trip: When do I kiss this girl?

Wednesday:
It's the morning after arrival, and I want to go see this girl. I ran around the hotel, looking for the room number she gave me, and I found it. She had Dr. Pepper pajamas, and a warm layer of sleep coming off of her whole body, and boyoh, when she came in for the hug, (the first hug we'd ever had), I felt safe like Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal and cartoons.

I spent the day wrestling my team's schedule into hers, with unsuccessful interactions again and again. We all went to the zoo, and I expected a whole day with her, but her team was catching the bus before us, or just leaving an exhibit right as we arrived, and I grew frustrated.

Later, an opportunity to watch Will.I.am from the Black Eyed Peas arose, so I invited her to go, and she finally did. I sat next to her and we watched whatever was going on, and I was sitting next to her. I sat next to her until the theatre emptied and the clean-up crew told us to leave. After that I stood next to her and we walked together until my team scolded me for going off on my own for too long.

The day was long after that, and then it ended.

Thursday:
The day of RoboProm. I didn't see the girl until evening. My team was keeping a closer eye on me, so I couldn't sneak off much. I did, of course, escape briefly for some minor excuse, and we ran into a photobooth together, laughing.

I was in the stadium, scouting, until 8 that evening, and the prom started at 7. I quickly dressed and walked into the crowd, eyes up, until I saw her and she lit her eyes up for me. We danced with the whole prom, bending the floor to whatever steps came out of the speaker.

I planned on kissing her outside her hotel room, but every time I worked up the courage to move my face into hers, someone walked by. I went to bed with dry lips, and a friend of hers told me that she'd give me a signal whenever it was the proper moment.

Friday:
The day was quickly gone and the girl was crying on my shoulder.
Before the tears, I'd held her hand up in the light and asked about all the rings she had on it. I gave her a flower made out of braided guitar strings and pipe cleaner. We talked a lot, and then we stopped for the tears.

I told her she and I would talk the next day. Saturday was our last day together ever. I cried that night, too.

Saturday:
I sang her my song in a talent show that I was definitely not qualified to be in. The crowd gushed from the romance I spilled on the stage. I messed up a lot, but after I finished playing, I found her and sat by her. Our arms were wrapped together, and we were both smiling again.

Then, Dean Kamen, one of the founders for the whole robotics program decided to be at our event. Everyone I knew that was there asked him for a photo. We all posed in that photo, and I was standing next to the girl. It was raining after the photo, so the girl and I ran through puddles because she never could back home.

We changed back into pajamas and talked through sore cheeks for a while, then I had to leave her. When I returned back, I ran into someone else. I must express to you how much I did not want to see this person, and he wanted to show me something. I did not want to go see whatever he wanted to show me, and I said yes anyway.

He brought me to the spot where I would kiss the girl, so I ran back to get the girl.

I found her, and she told me a story about a Nutri-grain bar and a horse. She noticed I had something on my mind.

We walked to the escalator down to the spot, and she told me she was afraid of escalators.

We walked into an elevator filled with mirrors, and I tried to kiss her, but she didn't notice and instead nuzzled me.

We sat by her friend complaining about the Avengers.

We stopped and listened to another friend tell about this guy she met at the dance.

We passed the spot I wanted to kiss her because she didn't like the room.

I listened to her take a phone call that told her that she was the prom queen back home.

We danced to a piano
for a while.

He stopped.

We kissed.