1 The first time I walked into my 10th-grade English classroom in California, I saw a student at his desk, resting his head on folded arms. I’d never seen a boy with such beautiful, wavy blond hair, the color of butter , and I was tempted to run my fingers through it as I passed by. 2 We sat in alphabetical order, which put me at the opposite end of the room from my new crush . I spent most of that class trying to get a glimpse of his face. At roll call I learned that his name was Vic. 3 The next morning I nervously 11 waited at the classroom door until Vic came, he glanced 12 at me with his amazingly 13 blue eyes. He was beyond 14 movie-star handsome 15 ! 4 Suddenly, it was hard to catch my breath , my face felt warm and my knees got weak. My heart pounded 16 so loudly — I was sure he must have heard it, too. What was happening to me? 5 A perky , pretty girl with an annoying giggle and a tight sweater sat one seat away from Vic. He called her bunny because she’d wrinkle her little nose at him whenever he turned in her direction , which was often. It drove me nuts. I couldn’t stop talking about her to my girlfriends in the back of the classroom. 6 Miraculously , my teacher Mrs. Christopher solved my dilemma when she demanded that I sit in the front row so I couldn’t chat with my friends. This put me between the bunny in the tight sweater and my Adonis. 7 When I noticed Vic was having trouble with the assignments , I offered to help him after class. His grades began to improve, and soon he started carrying my books to class when he saw me in the hall. He said that I made him laugh the way no one else could. And there was something about him that made me feel safe and special just to be near him. 8 One day I was going down the steps of the school library as Vic was going up. When our eyes met, we stopped and just stared at each other until the staircase was empty. Then he came up to the step I was on, wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me my first grown-up kiss, the kind I’d seen in the movies. 9 He lit my world like the Fourth of July, and after 50 years of marriage he still does.