| I Knew I Loved Her When |
| TITANIC FEELINGS "I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't like TITANIC," says Chris, 16, of Oklahoma City. "When Stacy insisted on dragging me to it, my first reaction to a three-and-a-half-hour movie was, "Great - now my butt gets to fall asleep." And it did. But when Leo's character bit it, Stacy started bawling, and I realized it was pretty cool that she felt comfortable letting me see that side of her. She was embarrassed, but I loved it. We've even rented it on video, and while I still don't like it, I love watching it with her." THE DINNER DATE THAT DID IT Derek, 16, from San Diego, California, can easily recall the moment he knew he was in love with his girlfriend, Kristen: "She planned this big romantic dinner. Her parents had even gone to a flick, so the house was empty. When I got there she had candlelight and soft music - everything looked great. But then it all started to go wrong, from her burning the chicken to me spilling a gigantic glass of grape juice on her mom's tablecloth. What blew me away was that she didn't get mad or upset. That's when I knew she was a keeper. We threw the chicken in the garbage and heated a couple of TV dinners." WORKING UP A SWEAT "My girlfriend and I are really into sports. She does track and tennis, while I'm into basketball and football," says 15-year-old Sam of Las Vegas, Nevada. "Last summer we went running together a few times. The first round wasn't much fun, but around the second or third time, we started all-out competing - you know, sweat flying, blisters bound to come up on your feet when you're done. That day she went from being my girlfriend to being my best friend, too, which is pretty awesome. I know it sounds weird, but I love breaking a sweat with her." FUNNY GIRL "Her sense of humor blew me away," says Jay, 17, of Houston, Texas. "I had the ultimate crappy job: flipping burgers at some fast-food place. One weekend I got called in and had to cancel a date with Alice that we'd been planning for a week. I got stuck working the drive-thru, and about 40 minutes into my shift I heard this freaky voice over the loudspeaker. No matter how hard I listened I couldn't tell what this woman was trying to order - I wasn't even sure she was speaking English! Finally, I got fed up and told her she would have to come inside. When it turned out to be Alice playing a prank, I about died laughing. She'd driven over to give me a card that said it was no biggie that I had to cancel our date. Very cool." NO PARTY GIRL "I've never been the popular type," John, an 18-year-old from Los Angeles, readily admits. "I never cared much about that until this girl in school threw a giant bash, inviting everyone I knew - including my girlfriend - but not me. This girl even talked to her friends about it a few rows behind me in class so I'd be sure to find out. When I met up with my girlfriend, Heather, after class at the locker we shared, I told her what had happened and let her know I was cool with not being invited. Meanwhile, the girl who was the cause of this was watching us from a few feet away. Heather grinned at me for a second before she tore the invite up, threw it away and said, 'What party?' That meant a lot to me." DOING THE BRIGHT THING "I never thought I'd be with a brain like Brenda," says Scott, 17, of Baltimore, Maryland. "First of all, I wouldn't have guessed she'd be attracted to a jock like me, and second, I kind of assumed smart girls wouldn't be all that fun to date. But when my algebra grade took a nose dive, the teacher asked Brenda to tutor me in study hall. I could tell she wasn't any more thrilled than I was, but as time went on, I realized we had a lot in common. What I'd mistaken for being dull was just her shy side. Once she opened up, I was like, 'Wow, this girl is perfect for me.' I asked her out, and although the first date was a little weird, by the second we knew we had something special." MONKEY BUSINESS "Kara's always ready to try something different," says 19-year-old Carl of Fort Myers Beach, Florida. "When other couples are vegging at the mall for the millionth time, we're at an art museum or the Imax." Carl wasn't always so adventurous, though. "When we first started dating, I thought she was a little odd," he confesses. "It freaked me out when she suggested the zoo for our fourth date." But reptiles and rhinos led to romance. "It was fun from the get-go. By the time we'd worked our way around to the monkey cages and were tossing zoo food at 'em, I realized I'd found someone who likes to have fun as much as I do." BREAKING THE RULES "My girlfriend's kind of a goody two-shoes, and I'm always trying to lighten her up," says Ethan, 16, from Chicago. "But on my last birthday the roles reversed. Math isn't my best subject, and when my parents saw my grade they weren't happy. I ended up banished to my bedroom for my 16th birthday! Around 8:30 that night I heard this scratching at my window. It was Ellen - carrying what she called her 'birthday backpack.' We had a quiet celebration, complete with cupcakes, candles and a cartridge for my Game Boy. I couldn't believe she'd had the guts to pull it off! That's when I knew this was a girl I wanted to have around forever." IT'S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME "When we lost the homecoming game, I felt like I'd let everyone down," says 19-year-old Matt of New York City. "I told Jane that I needed some time to myself instead of going to the homecoming dance. She said, 'Cool,' but that night, instead of heading for the party, she showed up at my house. I always figured she was more into me, the football player, than the other sides of me - but I was way off base. She told me she couldn't care less whether I'd won or lost, then she gave me a backrub before we settled down for a mellow evening watching the tube. I love her more than anything now: She's my touchstone." |
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| Posted August 8, 2001 |