Not Quite the Middle

Now, where did I leave off? Oh yes, a goodnight kiss. Well, let me just say that kiss sealed the deal for me. I was in love and no one could tell me differently. The next day we went to the highland games in Montrose. It was cold and rainy and the most beautiful day I had ever experienced. As we sat watching men in kilts throw logs and other burly games, he gently picked up my hand and we sat holding hands. We sat until his friends called him away and all of the teenage girls I had come to Scotland with crowded around me, giggling and begging for details. I told them about the night before and that I was in love with him. Suddenly I felt as if I were 14 again and all was right with the world. He came back about 30 minutes later and told me that his friends had been asking him the same questions, and they thought he was crazy. Maybe we were, but we were in love.
About ten of us decided to go and explore and he and some of his friends led us out of the games and to the beach. Now this was not a beach you would go to for sunbathing. It was rocky, windy, and about 40 degrees outside. The water was freezing, but I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, and waded in it, because how often does one get to do that in a secluded part of the ocean in Scotland with a boy that they love. Before running off to slide down sand dunes with the boys, he threw a handfull of sand at me, chased me until I fell, kissed me on the beach in the freezing cold, in front of everyone, handed me his jacket, and called me "Titch." I found out later that "Titch" means "wee one" and considering that he is a foot taller than me, I was flattered at my new nickname.
You know in the movie Elf, when Will Ferrell as Buddy runs into his dad's office and shouts, "I'm in Love. I'm in Love. I'm in Love, and I don't care who knows it." That is the only way to describe how I felt about this boy.
Once we were back at the Games, he bought me a flower from a cart and it was the best gift I had ever recieved. When I got back to the dorms that evening, I called my parents. My father answered the phone and I said "Daddy, I'm in love." He, bless his heart, said "Congratulations. Here's your mother." My mom was excited, but I think at the time the idea of 19 year old me being in love with some boy in Scotland that she had never met, absolutely terrified her. Of course, she would never tell me that.