I'm From Driftwood
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I'm From Burtonsville, MD by Anthony Sfrisi
We met on a Monday night. The city had shut down due to the blizzard and we found ourselves at the same party. For me, this was an unexpected stop as I had been out at the bars for hours and only stopped in to say hi to a few friends. For him, this was his only destination since he followed the beach party theme and dressed accordingly. As soon as I walked in, I saw him in the middle of the room dancing like a fool in a speedo.
My friend gave me a huge hug and drunkenly whispered, “He’s bi and single. You should totally hit on him.” By now, my inhibitions were lowered and I found myself talking to him without the usual awkwardness that I had around cute boys. We hit it off instantly when we realized we had a lot of mutual interests and knew a spark was there with a kiss in the back hallway.
As we walked through the snow back to his house that night, we stopped numerous times to admire the cityscape of Pittsburgh covered in snow and kiss as the snow began to fall again. After the long trek to his house, he pulled me into his room and told me that he noticed me as soon as I walked through the door and was the type of guy that he normally goes for.
We laid in his bed the next morning for hours and talked about our lives. I opened up to him and told him things that it took me years to tell my closest friends and he told me some of his secrets. As we parted that afternoon, he kissed me goodbye and got my number. Not even ten minutes went by when my phone beeped and he texted me and told me he was sorry that we had to part so quickly and that we should get together soon.
The next few months went by in a blur with numerous ups and downs. Whenever I was with him I felt like we were only two people in the world and that nothing could tear us down. But our insecurities began to get the best of us. It finally reached its ending point when he told me that he really liked me and cared about me but he couldn’t be what he knew I wanted him to be. With that, we decided to be friends.
I guess I should have known how it would end when he told me in the beginning that he wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. But I thought that maybe I could change him and make him believe in relationships. I still think about him everyday and wondering if there will ever be a scenario that would put us in the same city, at the same time again when we’re both ready for something more. I know it sounds a little foolish but a boy can dream, can’t he?
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“I’m From Burtonsville, MD”
Story by Anthony S.; artwork by Featured Artist Frank-Joseph Frelier
*Be on the lookout for work by an IFD featured artist every Sunday!
Recently I have been rather reflective about the past 4 years to the point where I sat in a cornfield by myself for 30 minutes this weekend while camping. One of the things that I was reflecting on was how I heard a song that made me think of someone that hasn’t been on my mind for about two years.
I have this tendency to associate people and events with certain songs and whenever that song is played, that person immediately comes to my mind. Sometimes it’s a good memory, other times it’s a bad memory and my mood immediately changes.
“Dirty Little Secret” by the All American Rejects reminds me of the boy who made me feel like I was only good enough for a hookup. I was a freshman and he was a junior. I met him in one of my first classes and he told me he was straight. Fast forward to a few months later when we went to a movie and we kissed at his house. After that, we hung out every night for 2 weeks while he spent every day with another guy. I was basically his second choice. Until recently I couldn’t hear that song without thinking how I basically disrespected myself just so I’d have a boy to like. I haven’t seen him in about a year and wonder today if he’s still pulling these tricks.
“Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado transports me back to sophomore year. I was heartbroken that the only guy I had liked had just dumped me after a date. We were close friends before that fateful St. Patrick’s Day where we shared our first kiss and night together. Every night after that, we stayed up late talking about life. But he wasn’t fully out and I was. He had just broken up with his boyfriend and now his ex-boyfriend hated me. So much drama and pain followed our brief affair where I was left drunk and heartbroken. We didn’t talk for months and had another setback when he told me that he used me to make his ex jealous. It took a few months but we’re friends now.
“7 Things” by Miley Cyrus reminds me of the one boy that made me crazy last summer. I had been on hiring committee for my on-campus job ever since I got hired. My first official semester this boy had applied and made it to the individual interview, but wasn’t hired. I had a crush on him and was excited when he friend requested me on Facebook. I told him to apply again and was thrilled when he did and got hired. I made it my goal to make him mine but he had a boyfriend at the time so I entered into the friend zone. Slowly, we got close. To which point, he held my hand once drunkenly and told me that he would make out with me if he was single. Halfway through the summer, he became single and I was shocked when he didn’t seek me out. Another boy had sabotaged me so that the boy I liked and I had a falling out. Things were rough for a while but we finally put things aside and are friends now. And in an ironic twist of fate “7 Things” boy and “Say It Right” boy started dating. Read more
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