“I Still Remember the Spot in the Woods Where You Broke My Heart”

One spring, the band Reel Big Fish played a show at a friend’s college. Each student got free admission as well as a plus one for the concert. To get me and another friend of ours into the event, I was going as the plus one of a friend of my friend. (Yes, I’m aware of how confusing that sounds and that is exactly how it felt)

The show was great, and in the cutest of all meets, my accidental date and I hit it off. He was 100% my type — a punk kid with a heart of gold from a small town, complete with mohawk. I started calling him honey bear, especially to embarrass him around his friends. We spent the rest of the semester hanging out frequently, and when he went home for the summer I went to visit him.

“We have to pick up your birthday present, I’m sorry it’s a little late.”

We had stopped at a grocery store. I followed him in a confused daze through a few aisles until we stopped by the tea…where he grabbed a plastic bear full of honey and handed it to me.

A few weeks later, I surprised him with a visit at the camp where he was working for the rest of the summer. The property had a wonderful path that ran along a stream through the woods, and we went for a walk. We came upon a picturesque clearing, and I reached for his hand. He pulled away.

It turned out that his childhood best friend had also gotten a job at this camp, and they had confessed having mutual feelings for each other after finding out they were both single at the same time for the first time ever. And, while he obviously cared about me and was enjoying what we had, he couldn’t deny what felt like fate.

He walked me back to my car, and I drove the two hours home.

Based on True Events is a series by Kelly Dudesek (@kellythebearcat) comprised of pairings of a visual work and a self-composed narrative inspired by lived events.