When Eighth Grade Heartache Was a Beautiful Distraction

Memoirist Idol 2022

When puppy love made life better during a difficult time

Growing up in the Navy town of Norfolk, Virginia I often had to make new best friends when one moved away. In the eighth grade, my most recent best friend moved and I didn’t have the will to try and replace her.

I had a few school friends, but they were separate from my home life. I had reached an age where I was careful about who I allowed in. I had a secret, which made me feel different, and alone a lot of the time.

But then something magical happened. I met a boy named Todd*. He was new, having moved from out of state.

He had blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. We were seated beside each other in English class. He was smart, funny, and talked to me like a person, which was unheard of in my experience of boys my age. Before long class for me became about stolen moments for private jokes between us.

We started to get in trouble with the teacher but were good students so we mostly got away with it. She separated us one day to punish us, but we ended up back together before long.

We were learning about poetry in class. He wrote a haiku and showed it to only me. It was lovely, better than any haiku by a boy his age had a right to be. It felt like we were in our own little bubble, and it made my heart bloom.

There was a regional history fair where we both performed historical scenes in separate groups. I played Florence Nightingale in a scene with my friend Maria as the prettiest dying soldier.

My history teacher, who before that day never remembered my name, praised me and insisted I join the drama club. And hey wouldn’t you know it, Todd had joined too.

Except I realized that I could not join the drama (or any afterschool) club because I had no ride home. My mom worked nights and my dad was an alcoholic who made it home whenever. I felt like a window had opened up to another world, but it was not for me.

As the weeks went by Todd grew more popular thanks to all the drama club activity I guess (middle school is weird!). He was also a runner. He was…

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