*THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Part 2

Standing in line, I could see that there was a girl standing next to "J".  I was a little puzzled because he had no sisters.  When I finally came face to face with him and was about to throw my arms around him, he stopped me.  He then said to me, "I want you to meet my girlfriend, "A".", indicating the girl standing next him.

I was shell shocked to say the least.  WHAT!! His girlfriend?!?  I thought I was your girlfriend.  Didn't we write all summer?  Didn't you call me to be sure I'd make it out to your Farewell?  Didn't you tell me more than once how much you missed me and couldn't wait to see me before you left on your mission? Wasn't I going to wait for you?  These thoughts all swirled in my head, but I couldn't say anything.  I just ran out of the building in tears and got into the car.  I cried all the way to Provo.  My poor brother had no idea what to do with his sobbing, little sister.  He dropped me off at my apartment where I was left alone in my misery.  My other roommates hadn't moved in yet. When they started to arrive, they didn't know how to help this girl that they barely knew who had just had her heart broken by the missionary who just happened to be a jerk.

When classes started, I  was enrolled in a Book of Mormon class of over 300 students.  I ended up sitting next to a girl who introduced herself to me.  After a little small talk, "K" told me that she was from Salt Lake and graduated from Olympus High School. Yikes!  That was the same school that "J" graduated from.  I told her that I had dated a guy last spring who went to Olympus and told her his name. "Do you know him?", I asked.  "K's" immediate response was "Oh, you're the one.".

She knew  him alright.  They were in the same social circle.  She proceeded to tell me how all summer long "J" was bragging about how he was stringing along this poor girl back in Virginia.  He had begun dating the girl he introduced me to as well.  "K" told me that most of his friends were disgusted with his behavior, herself included.  They all thought he was being a jerk and told him so. She told me that some of them had hung his picture on the wall and thrown darts at it.

Back in those days, missionaries going on  foreign language missions spent time in the Language Training Mission center (LTM) on the BYU campus.  They were allowed to frequent the campus bookstore. One day, my new friend ,"K", and I were in the bookstore when I saw "J" a little distance away.  I stood there mute.  He looked at me and saw that I was with "K".  A look of "Oh, no, she knows." came over his face. "K" said to me "There's "J"." She gave him a some what triumphant smile and then we left the bookstore.  That was the last time I saw him until many, many years later.

Me with J, the one that got away.