Ah, Debbie, the love of my life for three weeks.
I was 13, we'd been spending a lot of time together but I was oblivious to us being anything more than friends.

One fateful Wednesday afternoon, I was hanging round waiting for the school bus with friends and one of them asked me if I was 'going out' with Debbie.

I blushed and spluttered and was preparing to say 'no' when a voice I knew well came from behind me and said 'Yes, he is going out with me'

And that was that, with no say in the matter, I had my first girlfriend.

We went to the cinema the following Saturday, 16 May 1987 (I remember the date because I had to miss the end of the Tottenham Hotspur/Coventry FA Cup Final to see her).

Our romantic choice of film for our first night out alone, just the two of us, was…House II.

Except, at happens, it wasn’t just the two of us. I had obviously misunderstood. It was the two of us...

...and 5 of her girlfriends.

Still, somehow, I nervously sneaked my first kiss that night. And vowed never to kiss anyone except Debbie ever again.

For three weeks, I was in love. Then, on a school trip to France, the words that broke my heart, never to mend.

‘We’re not going out anymore, I like Ian now, but we can still be friends’

I was devastated, I knew I would never love again. Until I dance with Sonia at the disco that very night.

At which point Debbie stormed over, furious at me for dancing with someone else ‘so soon after we broke up’

And then we weren’t even friends anymore.

Ah, Debbie, I still think of you, and thank you for such a crash course the fact that I will never understand women

And basically for setting the template for every relationship I have ever had: Lack of control, confusion, lust, not getting to watch football, shock and taking the blame.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 29 Aug 2008, 11:51, 2 replies)

Oops
I misread the question, sorry. I could have sworn it said 'first flame'.

Oh well, too late now.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 29 Aug 2008, 12:03, closed)

so tragic, and so true
A click, good sir, for that last line alone!
(jessemoya, Sat 30 Aug 2008, 16:35, closed)