Part IV - They Meet

So now it's mid January, and it's been 3 solid weeks of talking online and the phone for Blake and Sarah and school has resumed. They have really enjoyed getting to know each other and are both glad they have a new friendship. Sarah confided to Blake that she and some of her other friends had recently been praying for fellowship with Christian guys, since the group they went to is more than 80 percent female. Blake was delighted to hear that and his heart warmed at the thought of being Sarah's friend and brother in Christ. Since they were both in Greensboro now, Sarah said she would look to see if she could spot Blake at the campus fellowship's next meeting. Blake was commuting back and forth from his parent's house in Chapel Hill at this time, because back in December he had moved out of the party house he lived in with those stoners. Blake just packed and left that house half-way through his lease, and was very lucky indeed when another guy moved in to replace him and pay his rent. Anyway, Blake said he would love to see Sarah at the meeting on Thursday night if he was able to come. Thursday came, and after a long day of classes, Blake was planning on going to the meeting when he got a call from his good brother Mark from church. A large party was happening in celebration of Mark's 21st birthday at a local downtown pub. The whole church was coming (thank the Lord for Presbyterians) and Blake didn't want to miss out on fellowship with his church, and since he wouldn't technically be breaking a promise to Sarah, he bought a gift for Mark at an outdoor store and went over to have a few drinks and dinner in fellowship. At the end of the night, Blake was just about drive all the way back to Chapel Hill when Nate offered to let him sleep on his couch. Blake did so, then woke up the next day and showered at the school rec center because Nate had to leave for work at 7:30 and Blake didn't want to get up before that, but that's another story. If he had only known the beauty and royalty of this princess Sarah he would have gone to see her even if it meant not getting home at all and sleeping in his car (which he did end up doing later at her request this summer while in Austin, but that's another story)!

The next day on the phone Sarah told Blake that she had looked for him at the meeting. Blake was so sorry he didn't tell her that he was going to the party and was so sorry this poor girl expected him there and he wasn't there, that he decided to make it up to her the very next week and meet her at the UNCG men's basketball game. Blake was busy over that weekend, because he signed a lease with Phil, a really good brother, to live in a stylish appartment in the exclusive boho student quarter on the good side of campus. When the day came to meet, they had talked on the phone earlier and Blake had tried his best to ease Sarah's nerves about meeting him and told her it was all just friendly and how it would be fun to see the person they had been talking to so much for the past few weeks, but Sarah was more nervous than even Blake could have guessed. The plan was to just meet inside the rec building at the beginning of the game. Something came up that was going to make Blake late, and about 20 minutes before the game was to start, Blake pulled out his phone to call Sarah--not realizing he was calling the wrong Sarah! He heard a voicemail from Sarah C, a girl counselor at Blake's camp he worked at in New Hampshire, and not really listening to the voicemail greeting, left a message for the wrong Sarah, telling her he would be late!

Blake rode his bike up to the outside of the recreation building and jumped off, about halfway through the first half. As he was walking through the doors, he called Sarah (the right one) to see where she was. Sarah had almost given up expecting Blake to come and even felt like he was standing her up and he was a big loser! She told him where she was sitting though, and he tried to find her in the crowd, but she saw him before he saw her and told him to walk down the steps. He sat down, said hi, and smiled. Sarah was wearing jeans and a navy tshirt, with a yellow ribbon in her hair. She looked beautiful.

They spent the game watching and talking a little, and after the game Blake walked her over to her dorm just a short stroll away. They said goodbye and that was pretty much it--never did Blake feel he was putting anything on or trying to impress. Everything was so natural!