Our Love Story Part I: First meetings

My Senior year I had a decision to make. I had scholarships to a couple colleges but didn't really want to go to any of them. I didn't want to go to New Mexico State because half my graduating class was going there and, being an Air Force brat, I liked moving and the idea of starting over where no one knew me. I didn't want to go to the school in Virginia because it was too far away. I didn't want to go to BYU because I was NOT going to be one of those girls that got married to the first guy she meet at college ( HA! Foreshadowing).  Nothing wrong with those girls, I just fancied myself a rebel. Hilarious, I know. So my Young Women's leader told me about this tiny 2 year college in Arizona called Eastern Arizona College. I went to a preview day and was sold. Big fine Arts program, lots of LDS, fairly close to home, and they offered me scholarships on the spot. Fast forward a few months...

It's the Sunday before school starts at EAC and I'm sitting outside the bishop's office with my friend Rod. He is literally the only person I know here. He was my friend back home and decided to come to EA at the last minute.

That's me and Rod at my Junior Prom. I know what you are thinking "SUHHWEEET Bangs!"

 Being the nosy person I am, I look at the name of the person who signed up before me and is in the office right now. ArJay Gamble. That's a weird name, how do you pronounce that? Just then the door opens and out he walks still talking to bishop. HEELLOO! He is tall( but I'm 5'4" what do I know from tall?), dark hair, dark eyes, and a tie covered in sheep with a black sheep right in the middle( it's the tie that did me in). He glances over, then does a double take.

"HI. I'm ArJay"

" Oh that's how you say it, I was wondering"

Pause as he looks at me expectantly

"Oh I'm Maggie, or Magdelyn, whatever you want. And this is Rod"

They do the weird guy chin bob thing that makes up 75% of guy's communications with each other

"So, I'm getting a group together to play some games in my dorm's common room tonight at 7, do you want to come?.... You both can if you want"( ArJay later told me that he thought Rod and I were a couple but he thought I was hot so he invited me anyways)

I Look at Rod for confirmation then get my own chin bob of acceptance

"Sure sounds fun, see you then!"

We show up at game night and there are 3 guys and about 12 girls and ArJay seems to know ALL the girls. I thought he was trying to be a player( I would later come to realize that this imbalance of the number of girls vs guys is just common at EA).

We start playing "Battle of the Sexes". ArJay starts telling me the answers, but they are mostly the wrong answers.He throws in a right one every once in a while to screw me up. I start getting really annoyed Dude I don't know you from Adam, go bug someone else. 

Meanwhile, one of the other girls is blatantly trying to get his attention. At one point, she even sticks her head in between us with her back to me and starts loudly giggling at him and flipping her hair around.
Have at him! I'm just trying to play the game and he's messing with my head!( have I mentioned that I can get pretty competitive?) He manages to ward off the hair flipping and is back to mouthing answers to me. So now the giggler is mad at me and he's still telling me answers. So, being the mature person I am, I give him stink eye while the hair flipper gives me stink eye.

Finally it is dorm curfew and everyone starts packing it in.  The Giggler is standing around expectantly but he walks around her and comes right next to me.

"Can I walk you back to your dorm?"

"It's just across the courtyard, it takes 5 minutes."

" But it's dark and who knows what's out there"

"Seriously, this is EA."

Rod then chimes in.

"Just let him walk you Maggie, your Mom would feel better about it"

Reluctantly, I start walking, making sure we are still with most of the group. Somehow they speed up or we slow down, and we are separated and sit in the grass and start talking. And we kept talking. When I finally made it into my dorm 2 hours later that night, I decided maybe he wasn't so annoying after all.