Love Story

Well, I wasn't expecting this to happen. I am the happiest I've been in a long time. And it's amazing because all of this happiness was caused by one person who was able to make my life take a 180° turn. Yes folks, Melissa is in a relationship. It’s Facebook official and everything! This whole thing happened so quickly that I’m still trying to catch my breath.

Jared and I work together at the music school, I’m the piano instructor and he’s the voice instructor. I’ve been there almost three years, but he just started teaching in January. The first time I saw him was at a Christmas choir concert for the local college. My mom and several friends were in the choir, so I went. Jared was in the choir too and also sang a solo. I would like to preface the next part of this story by saying that Jared is a great musician, he has a wonderful, albeit uncommon, gift. Jared has an impressive vocal range. Like Freddy Mercury/Mariah Carey impressive. For those of you who know music, he can hit a high A sharp, like the one above the staff. For those of you who don’t know music, that’s really high. Especially for a dude. Well, when he did that solo at the concert, he sang that high. I was so taken aback by the sound that was coming from him, that I couldn’t help but to laugh. I am an awful person. But in my defense, it was nervous laughter more than anything. When I told Jared about my reaction to hearing him sing for the first time, he said he saw me laughing. But I wasn’t the first person to do so and I’m sure I won’t be the last.

Once he and I officially met and started working together, we became pretty good friends and realized that we had so much in common, even going so far as to call each other twin. We’re like the same person, we even kinda look alike. We really got to know each other while working with a student who is taking both voice lessons from Jared and piano lessons from me. While helping this student prepare for a performance, we taught a couple of joint lessons. We found that we work really well together.

We continued getting to know one another better while working on a musical at the local community theatre. Of course he was in the cast as one of the lead characters, and I was asked to run the sound board. This was a really fun show to be a part of because I had so many friends involved in it. Before the rehearsals and shows would start, Jared and I would always hang out. The show ran two weekends and on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday that we had off, we hung out. That Monday, we both had lessons, then went out to dinner together, went to the mall, and saw a movie. At the time, I didn’t think of it as a date, but that was the day that I realized that I liked him and wanted to be more than just friends. The next day, we had lessons again and I was making tacos for dinner, so I invited him over for dinner with my family. My mom had already told me that she thought Jared and I should date, that we would make a cute couple. Even though I liked that idea, I didn’t think Jared liked me that way. I was afraid that if I told him how I really felt, that it wouldn’t be mutual and then it would make our friendship über awkward, so I just kept it to myself. This whole ordeal was like a scene out of an emo Disney Channel original movie. After dinner, I introduced Jared to HBO’s Girls. He could only handle so much at once, so we only watched the first three episodes. Some how, Nutella milkshakes came up, so we made some (WHICH ARE LIFE CHANGING, BTW!) I took him home later that night and I remember thinking, “yeah, I definitely have a crush”. 

The next day, Wednesday, I went to work for a lesson, which ended up being cancelled, so I called Jared to see if he wanted to hang out, since he didn’t have any lessons. So I picked him up and we went back to my house to hang out. We did some karaoke, played the piano and just had a good time being ridiculous. Somehow we got on the subject of dating. I told him what my mom had said and that I wouldn’t mind dating, but that I was ok with just being friends too. I remember saying, “the ball is in your court”, and he said, “I’ll keep that in mind”. The next thing I remember, we were chasing each other and ended up in a dark hall. I got kind of close to him, then he leaned in and kissed me. As corny as it sounds, it was such a magical moment. I think from that moment on, I had a permanent smile on my face for about a week. The silliest thing was that Jared was being just as emo-Disney-Channel-movie as I was. He didn’t think I liked him back either!

This relationship has started out so unlike any other I’ve ever had. For starters, I did not meet him online, and that has been HUGE for me. I got on a dating website for the first time in January of 2009 via my BFF’s recommendation (she’s been with her current BF, whom she met online, for four years and they’re most likely getting engaged in the next year or so! :D). I’ve met several guys on that website and even had a serious, although destructive, relationship come from it. Since that relationship ended, up until this one started, I met 11 guys from online in person, 2 of whom were flings that lasted a couple of weeks, and a third that I had just gone on a date with two weeks before dating Jared, but who I thought had true potential. However, the point of telling you all that is that I was looking in all the wrong places for someone. Here was this guy who is my better half, my twin, my soulmate, and I was running around, giving it up to anyone who told me I was “hot”, or “sexy”, or had “nice tits”. I was oblivious to what was right in front of me. 

I realized that I liked Jared no more than a week before we started dating. He knew he liked me about a month before. A MONTH! He said he was surprised I didn’t notice him “gawking” (his word) at me when we were teaching our joint lessons. So oblivious was I. That’s been different for me too, the fact that he liked me first. It has almost always been the other way around, as far as I know. And the fact that he actually likes me for me, and not just for my body parts, is a big deal. Of course he does like my body parts too, I mean come on, he’s a guy, but that’s not what is on the forefront of his mind. It’s refreshing. 

I think the most important difference in this relationship from all the others is that we have not had sex yet. Of course we’ve made out, but it hasn’t gone any further than that. This has been a conscious decision that we’ve made together, although I was not too happy about it at first. Having only lost my virginity at age 22, three years ago, I’ve been kind of making up for lost time I suppose. That’s what the 11 guys in 8 months was about. But I’m pretty sure sex is what messed up any chance that I had with any of those guys. When Jared told me that he didn’t want to have sex for a while, and possibly not until (if) we get married, I wish he could have taken a picture of my face, because I’m sure it was quite comical. But after doing some thinking about it for a good bit, and thinking about how sex has ruined my past relationships, I realized that celibacy was probably the best decision. Being with Jared for however long I’m meant to be with him is much more important to me now than just getting my rocks off. And knowing that one day we will get to be intimate with each other makes it totally worth it. 

I am so indescribably happy. It’s amazing. And who would have ever thought that as a 25 year old young woman, I would fall for a 19 year old young man? All I can say is that it was meant to be. 

PSA: stay tuned for more posts on what I’ve been doing this summer so far, such as: Melissa Meals, Rock Camp, the Great Computer Crash of 2013, and more! But for now, enjoy these super lovey-dovey/sickeningly sweet pictures of Jared and me! 

The top picture was how we told my mom that we were dating. The bottom picture was what we sent to one of our students because she was freaking out over the news of us being "Facebook Official".

At work

We clean up rull niiice. 

There are no words. 

Rock 'n' Roll.