pickle boy part II

Oh the fateful Fall of 2006...I had just come to the gradual realization that Mr.Mercedes was definitely not the man for me as I entered my graduating semester at BYU-Hawaii. I had a few class options for my last months of school, and decided to enroll in an Anthropology class. As I walked into class on the first day, I was surprised (and okay, I'll admit it-excited) to see Tommy Rivers sitting in class wearing a Boy Scout hat with a huge smile on his face. Being the introverted, ackward girl that I am, I made a definitive point to sit on the complete opposite side of the room and avoid all eye contact with this coveted man. (Okay, fine. I sneaked some peaks throughout class. But only when I was sure he wasn't watching...)
Only a few days had passed before I walked into the classroom to find Rivers sitting in the seat next to the one I had been occupying. Great. Way to ruin my plan of non conspicuity. Now I had to talk to him, and ran the risk of falling in love with him as every other girl had... I knew I was truly done for when the first thing Rivs did was reach into his backpack, pull out a tupperware container, and offer me pretzels and hummus. Then the next class he offered me Raisinettes. Wow. He was smoothe. That same class period he started to write strange messages in his notebook like "did you know that Raisinettes is a French word?" "No it isn't", I replied (Oh I thought I was playing it so cool). He must have forgotten our sole previous discussion on my Frenchness. Anyways, this triggered a trilingual note-writing frenzy, as we wrote back and forth in French, Spanish and English. Somehow, the topic of sandwhiches eventually came up, and I told him how much I loved pickles. The next day after class, Rivers approached me with a serious demeanor.

Rivers: I know this is kind of weird since you don't really know me, but I brought you a gift.
Steph: (trying to hide my excitement) Oh, cool. Thanks...
Rivers: Ok. Close your eyes and hold out your hands.
Steph: Okay...? (I feel something cool, cylindrical and plastic-y in my hands. A sea cucumber? When I open my eyes, I find that I am holding a pickle in a ziplock bag. I immediatey start laughing.) Do you mind if I eat it now?
Rivers: Go ahead...

So, that pushed me over the edge of skepticism to full-out, hardcore "like". Once I had overtly accepted that I was crushing on this T.Rivs guy, I worked up the courage to tell my new roommate...

Steph: Hey B, guess what? I have a crush on someone at school...
B: Really!? Who is it?
Steph: Ummm...I have a crush on Rivers.
B: Pft. Who doesn't?
Steph: Yeah, but he brought me food to class! And he writes me little notes!
B: Yeah, he does that with every girl.
Steph: Oh. (Can you say buzz-kill? Well, it turns out that Rivs really does share his food and his thoughts with lots of people. Not because he's a flirt, but because he's just a friendly guy. This little character attribute explains his previous "conceited" reputation...)

Luckily, after a few weeks, our professor had us seperate into groups to do an Ethnography on a topic of our choosing. Being the sneaky Casanova that he is, Rivs casually mentioned that he was really interested in tattoos and thought it would be fun to study tattoo culture. (Falling). Tattoos? Really? Was this guy for real? Yeah, I was on board. Our group started with 4 members, but somehow over the course of a couple days was strangely wittled down to two; yup-me and Rivers. How convenient. So, we were to spend 15 hours studying tattoos together, alone, over the course of 3 months. Basically we were consigned to fall in love. On our first Ethnography session, I went to pick Rivs up from his house. He said he would just be a few minutes, and invited me in. He just happened to be cooking Thai Green Curry and offered me some. (Falling.) Then, before we headed out the door he asked if he could play me a song on his guitar. (Falling). He then proceeded to sing "Isabelle" by Mason Jennings, my favorite artist at the time (In love). Come on. Did I even have a chance? Ultimately, I credit tattoos, pickles, curry and Mason Jennings for bringing us together.

TO BE CONTINUED with tales of our rocky courtship