Mark and I have a pretty unique story. We met in July of but I believe our story started way before. Both of our families were centrally located in the Bremen area. My parents moved to Brunswick right before I was born and I have lived here my entire life. Mark didnt move here until he was 12 years old. I was in a homeschool co-op until I was roughly 12 and Mark began attending the same co-op shortly after I left.
We knew so many of the same people in similar places and yet we never met until July of In July of we met at the motion conference we attended with the Edge Youth Group. Pretty quickly after meeting we were laughing, talking, and connecting as good friends. After the trip, we remained good friends and talked after youth group every week.
Mark soon showed interest in me by gifting me a beautiful bracelet from a family trip. At that time I only saw Mark as a good friend. After a season of separation due to life events and other romantic relationships we reconnected during senior year of high school when he enrolled at Heritage Christian Academy. A couple of months into the year our friendship deepened again and we bonded through shared difficulty and struggle. Mark now confesses that he began to have feelings for me again right around Homecoming where we went together in black attire.
Soon after he told me how he felt and I expressed to him that I didnt feel the same way. I remember feeling so afraid that he would abandon our friendship the next day that I immediately pulled away from him without giving him a chance. I assumed he would leave like all the other guys did but Mark was different. He continued to make the choice to be my friend even if it never went any farther than that. Fast forward we remained friends for the rest of the year into our freshman year of college.
I remember this year feeling very conflicting for me. I wanted to adventure and get to know other guys and friends but Mark was always around and people usually asked if we were dating. Part of me found this issue frustrating but I also believe I had a great deal of denial about my love for Mark due to my hurts and needing to see growth in Mark before I was willing to take that chance.
