This is part three in a series. See parts one and two here.
After that fateful day in January of 2009, Miguel and I were in constant contact with each other. It was like we picked up our friendship right where we had left off at graduation. By March, I was smitten. Miguel was at Florida State University, and I was at New York University. Our Spring Breaks were over two separate weeks with only a weekend overlap between them. For that weekend we were both back home in Houston, we spent the whole time together "as friends."
The rest of the semester passed painfully slowly. I spent most of it wishing it was summer break to be able to see Miguel again, even though we were determined to remain "just friends." Then one night we stayed up all night talking on Skype. We spent hours finally admitting to each other what we had known all along: that there were feelings there. But here's the real kicker. We STILL vowed to remain just friends.
The truth was that at this point, it was still only a few months since he and his high school girlfriend had broken up. Our desire to keep things as platonic as possible came out of a respect for her and her feelings. But it was hard. So hard to like someone and have them like you in return knowing that there was nothing you could do about it. It was easier in a way that we were 1000 miles apart in different states, but summer break was approaching and we'd be back in the same town again.
We had a mutual friend from high school that we charged with Keep Miguel and Amanda Platonic Duty. We made sure she was with us at all times because we didn't trust ourselves to be alone together. She didn't do a very good job.