Series on Monday

Get like Sprite. Refresh yourself.

Part 7

One evening, JD called to tell me he had something he wanted to talk to me about. I ended up taking an extra shift at work, so I called to tell him we'd have to talk the next day. He was a little upset, but understood. An hour later he called and asked me to check my e-mail whenever I got a chance. During a break, I found a computer and sat down to read a very long e-mail. In it, JD expressed that he wanted us to have a title that fit our relationship. He wanted me to be his girlfriend. He was willing to leave things as they were if that's what I wanted, but he wanted us to spend more time together

I didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, he was saying a lot of the things I had secretly wanted him to say but at the same time we had so many issues already. He was needy and jealous. I wanted us to be sure that this was something we both were ready to get into before we jumped into this. I didn’t respond to the e-mail and I didn’t call him when I got off work. I needed some time to think.

The next day, JD called me while I was at lunch with my friends. I hadn’t consulted any of them about the situation. I wanted to make a decision without their influence. He asked me if I’d read the e-mail. I told him I had. He asked if I had an answer, and I told him “yes, but that’s contingent on us having a conversation.” He sounded a little put off by the response, but agreed. I told him I would call him later that evening when I had some time.

That night was a real-life shit show. I saw a side of JD that his previous behavior should have alluded to, but I was completely blindsided by. Nothing I was saying to him seemed to stick. All he seemed to hear me doing was criticizing him. I just wanted us to talk about his jealous ways and discuss how he needed to free me to be with my friends and trust that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Some of the things he said to me made it clear that he had only asked me because he was jealous. He didn’t really want me as a girlfriend as much as he wanted to make sure I’d always be there when he did get truly ready. There was name-calling and serious shouting. I hung up with him feeling like not only were we not going to be together, but I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be his friend anymore.