Once upon a time, there was a girl- and a rather ordinary girl at that. And like most ordinary girls, she liked a boy. She tried to talk to this gentleman for a long time. Four years in fact. Occasionally the young man would bless her with a Hello before walking away, but never much more. But she kept on trying to pry words out. Then one day, while this girl was in church, and the pastor said
"God always gives us what we need. If you don't have it, you don't need it."
At first this made the girl sad, but eventually she thought, "Yes, that's right." And she decided that if the young man never said more than hi, she must not need him to.
About that time the girl and her family started praying about the future. The girl had been praying for a long time, but this time she decided to pray for what God wanted for her, not what she wanted.
Not too long after that she got a message from that same young man that he wanted to spend Valentine's Day evening with her.
And the ordinary girl suddenly felt like a princess.
And the boy...well, maybe not a prince, but perhaps a Baron. A cattle baron.
So the princess told him yes, and after fidgeting her way through the week, valentines day came.
Her gentleman showed up half an hour earlier than they had agreed, but she had been ready for an hour already, so it was alright.
The Princess' mother was away, so the princess' number one minion snapped a picture of the couple before they set off in a royal mud splattered Chevy. It was a silly, cute picture, as the gentleman was at least an entire foot taller than the princess, and they both looked frozen solid.
They had an hour long drive ahead of them, and the princess was nervous, but it got easier when the boy suggested almost immediately that next year when he clipped bulls, she should come over to watch. Things just got better when they discovered that they both had a deep dislike for the state of Colorado, and people who drive way too fast or too slow.
By the time they had drove five miles, they had shared an inside joke having to do with the whereabouts of a young man named Roger.
The two discussed their mothers and aunts who like to give orders and take way too many pictures, along with things like straight pipes, and pickup tires, and what kinds of tractors are awful to work on.
When they got to the town, things were going smooth. But when they pulled in to the movie theater, the gentleman started to get nervous. "Oh boy." He said. "This doesn't look good."
The parking lot was filled to overflowing. They sat in line, and when a car tried to cut, the young man yelled out "Where you going champ? Nowhere!" He smiled and waved when the car backed into place. They finally found a space, and made their way inside. The princess felt a whole foot taller when he held the door for her each time. They stood in line behind a family of people set on eating popcorn, but the girl didn't mind, because for the first time, she looked like the other girls standing in line with other boys. When they finally got their turn the cashier said "American Sniper? That sold out hours ago."
The two groaned, and stalked back outside. The girl offered to call her Father and find out if the late showing would be fine, so while she did that, he dropped off a starter, and when he came back, they decided to try it. "Get me a Monster. I'll be awake for Sunday School just fine." The girl assured.
They made their way to Applebees, with gift card in hand. But when they got there, a line reaching out the door was what they found.
"Why does everyone have the same plan as me?" The boy threw up his hands. "What are these people doing out anyway?"
"It's valentine's day." The girl laughed and shook her head.
"Oh." The boy said. "I forgot about that."
The girl thought that was funny, since up until then, everyone thought a valentines date was his plan. The hurried back to the theater then, in hopes of securing a pair of tickets. "So we can waddle in at 10:29, and get in just fine." When they got there, another line of cars they found, but the boy was impatient so he just parked on the island in the middle, underneath a tree. People stared, but the pair of them laughed. "If you had a Chevy, you could park like that."
They got the tickets much faster, and the girl secured them in her billfold, being sure to hide the senior picture of him there. "I'll cry if you lose them." He declared, but when she said that sounded swell he changed to "for your safety, don't lose them."
Then they headed back to the streets. The steak houses were full. So Perkins it was. "Don't worry," She assured. "There's more than just pancakes. Turn to the back."
They laughed about fried pickles, and her funny poached egg. They talked of their sledding wrecks, and dirt bikes, and games.
Then she said "Guess what my second minion said. She said there's no way you would bring me to this town, and don't even think you'll see a movie."
He laughed his head off then and demanded to know why, but she didn't have an answer. The minion never said why.
"That's not all." She said. "She cried when you called. Cried for hours, and said it had ruined her life."
More laughing followed, and when he finally could breathe, he said "Is she going to cry every time I call?"
The Princess, she giggled, and said she didn't know. But all she could think was that he planned to call more.
They ate burgers and pancakes, then sat and killed time. The waitress must have been worried. She came by all the time. Finally they left, and just drove around town. "We'll pretend Cabela's is open." They said and cruised around. They looked for a car wash, for that mud covered pickup, but they were all closed- it was late out you see.
Finally they felt like they might have wasted enough time, they went back to the theater, and parked on the lawn this time. They went in and the cop wouldn't let them in. The gentlemen grumbled, but they sat back to wait. It wasn't too long, before they could get their seats. The young man almost fell asleep through the commercials, till they started talking about the vegetables he hates and she likes, and what would happen if they both got perms and highlights. Then they discussed if superhero's save the world or destroy it, and finally the movie was ready to play. They watched the whole thing, and it was pretty good. Then they headed back home, talking about baby pictures and black mail. They talked about how awkward church would be in the morning. "My aunt doesn't know. She's got no clue where I went. But by morning the whole place will giggle when we walk in."
The girl thought it was funny he just ditched his aunt like that, and begged him to come to church so she wasn't the only one being giggled at. He debated and considered, and they almost hit a skunk, then when they got home she told him thanks.
"Well thanks for coming with me." He said, sounding sort of surprised.
"It was fun." She assured.
"Yeah it was." He just smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow," He said just as she stepped out the door. "Yeah, I'll see ya." She waved, and ran through her front door.
The next day he came, and things weren't so bad. Ladies giggled and pastor grinned, but that's all the trouble they had. The girl found out he had been planning this for two months. Asking people to find her cell number- even though she didn't have one. Boy that made her feel special. Two months just for her!
Then the terror set in. How much should she talk? What was a pest, and what showed interest? The parent's meant well, but they weren't exactly clear. Finally she got him invited for next Sunday's dinner. She didn't talk to him then for a few more days, but she called him one night so find out what he would eat. "Anything but asparagus!" Is all he would say. Then they talked about bull sales, job interviews, minions, and doors. That skunk, and his day, and all of his chores.
Then she talked to some friends and tried to calm down, then she sat down to tell you, how her first date came around.
