How I met Jay by Anonymous

I was walking home from school one evening after having a biology practical. Those practicals never fail to drain the life out of me. I just wanted to get on the bus, go home, cry and wish I never took biology. On this dreadful day, the bus decided to be late. I was pissed off. When it finally came, I got on it, went to the back seat, put in my headphones, stretched out my legs and sat there fuming with anger. I hadn’t been on the bus for 20 seconds when I drifted off to sleep. The only thing I can remember was a tap on my shoulder saying that the bus had reached the last stop and everyone had to get off.

But my stop is the third to the last stop. I was so embarrassed that I had fallen asleep on the bus but I was even more embarrassed that the person who woke me up was not the bus driver but the guy I had a huge crush on. We usually get off at the same stop and I wondered ‘errr why didn’t you get off at our stop’. In the whole confusion of being awoken in such a manner, I managed a smile and said ‘oh really? Thank you’. I got up quickly, got off the bus and crossed the road back to the opposite bus stop so I could get another bus back to my house. I sat on the bench at the bus stop and leaned against the wall. I startled when someone said ‘hey you ok?’ turning around, who did I see, MR CRUSH lol. The first thing that came to my mind was ‘awww what a cutie. He didn’t get off at our stop because he was worried that I wasn’t getting off’ (lol I’m such a cringe fest) but the next thing was ‘he probably has a video of you sleeping and drooling all over yourself on the bus’. I didn’t know what idea to go with. I replied ‘yeah I am. Just tired from school’. He was like ‘ok cool’. He sat on the bench as well and we both waited in silence for the bus. I have never felt so awkward in my life.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, he told me that he didn’t think the buses were going to come seeing that it was about 8pm and at this time of the night, the buses in Stonebridge tend to do whatever they like. I was like oh, I will probably have to sit here till tomorrow then. He laughed and suggested we walk home together. It was like a 30 minute walk from the bus stop to where we both lived. I hate walking but heyyy my crush was offering to walk me so why not.

We started walking and having a conversation was so easy. In that short period of time, we talked about the dumb ass buses, college, university and other things. His house was a few blocks from mine but he offered to walk me to my house to make sure I was safe according to him. I found that so cute and I smiled deep within me lol. When I got to my house I said thank you to him and we exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes. I couldn’t contain my joy and even when I was tucked in bed, I couldn’t still comprehend what had happened.

Few minutes before midnight I think, I got a text from J saying it was nice talking to me and I was so easy to talk to and bla bla bla. If any of my friends happened to tell me that a guy texted them that, the normal me would just hiss and tell them that all guys do it so its nothing special. But that night, I guess I was not normal. I smiled like a lunatic. I made sure I waited 20 minutes before texting back. I don’t know why I do that but I always do it with guys. That was one long ass wait but I finally texted back and said he was fun to talk to too. We continued texting and I asked him why he didn’t get off the bus at our normal stop. He said that he saw me sleeping X_X and he wasn’t sure whether to wake me up or not when the bus was approaching our stop so he just thought he stay on the bus with me and make sure that I get off the bus when it gets to the last stop. How cute J. I can’t remember what else we talked about after that but I know I didn’t sleep till about 4am and I didn’t even feel any guilt that I was going to bed at that time when I had to be at college for 9am.

So did he ask me out? Of course he did, after about a month of intense texting, few calls and him walking me home a couple of times. Are we still going out? Yes J. We had our one year anniversary about a week ago (lol how gay). He is the funniest and most caring boyfriend ever. I sense we would soon be breaking up tho seeing as we are both going off to different universities in September. But till then, we’ll see how everything goes xx

How I met Her by Leon Staples

I was 17 and a broke student in Paris. It was Christmas time, my first winter in Paris. One Sunday evening, I went out with a good friend to the Champs Elysees Avenue.

Along the way, we ended up in the Virgin Megastore just to soak up the festive mood and if nothing else at least pretend we were seriously considering buying the whole store.

This is when I saw her. She wore a long, bright ‘Ferrari’-red coat, a white flurry scarf and brown knee-high boots. Her skin was smooth cocoa, her eyes were pure white and her hair jet-black. I stood still for what seemed like an eternity as I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I felt instantly consumed by her beauty, my head was burning.

I had never seen such a beautiful woman. Here was the woman of my dreams, my future wife (she didn't know it yet) and she was standing only a few yards away. She was so delicately elegant and serene.

I inched closer, sizing up my prey, psyching myself up and getting ready to make my move. I gave her a couple of furtive glances, mainly to check for any oversized boyfriend lurking in the shadows. Clear. I noticed a couple of smartly dressed men loitering around and they appeared to be drooling over her.

One of them was clearly getting ready to make a move and i couldn't let that happen.. not this time. The race was definitely on then, the battle would be short and I was not going to come out second or third best.

Suddenly she turned towards me and our eyes met for the briefest moment. That was it. I had no choice but to move in for the kill or be killed. Now was the time to become a man.

I went to her and said apologetically how beautiful I thought she was and how foolish i was to dream of such an impossible romance. She gave me the softest smile, said 'thank you' and asked my name.....

Her name was Ebla, she was 28 years old from Kenya. She asked me to walk her out. We slowly walked up the Champs for 10 minutes under the christmas lights to the metro. The air was mild. For once, I wished it would snow so we could cuddle up but it didn't. Damn.

She said i made her wish she was 10 years younger. I said it didn't matter but she just smiled again.

Before she left, she added I had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Clearly, my seduction gameplan was working.

She sealed our brief encounter with a kiss and waved me 'adieu' as the metro sped away towards St Cloud. I stayed on the platform, for a few minutes taking it all in. I never saw her again.

I was a boy, she was a woman but that was our magic moment. I walked back to my friend, feeling like a billion dollars for I had conquered her heart.

As I told my friend the story, he started staring at me. I said ‘what’s up Joe?’ and he replied: ‘Nothing. I’d just never noticed your eyes before, fool!’.

How I met him : C. Okafor

Love the series ladies!

You know in romantic movies when the leading lady meets "that guy" and the soundtrack comes on and you know they are about to envelope each other in a tantalizing smooch?. Yea that has never happened to me lol BUT I have come pretty close a couple of times!!!
I met Yummy (that was my name for him because he was quite delish) a while back in college. I remember it was a Saturday night and my roommates had left for the weekend and i was alone in our apartment, another friend of mine had stayed on campus that weekend so she came over to chill and we were watching girly movies and doing our nails and stuff, when he called to invite her to a party he was throwing at his house that night. Naturally she begs me to come along because she didn't want to go alone and not know anyone there and i honestly wasn't in the mood to take out the rollers in my hair or put on makeup but i agreed and decided to go.

He came to pick up because his house was quite far from our school and he was a total gentleman, I remember he stepped out of the car and gave my friend a hug and I gave him a double take thinking "Gatdamn". She introduced us and hopped in the car to fix her makeup and he just stood there looking at me and holding my hand and said "Nice to meet you C...you look very pretty"..I probably blushed i don't remember (lol) ..I nodded and quickly hopped in the back seat..I was a little awkward back then haha.When we get to his place, my friend sees someone she knows and escapes leaving me standing outside with him and as we walk towards the basement, i could feel his eyes on me but of course i had to play it cool so i asked him where i could get something to drink and he told he would go get it, so i just chilled..standing in the corner and watching everyone dance and he came over with my drink and just kept looking at me.

In my mind I'm like "i hope i dont have something on my face" so i turned to him and asked him why he wasn't out on the dance floor being a good host and having fun, he said he was having a lot of fun standing next to me.. I nodded again...I swear i was like an agama lizard that day lol ..I finally summoned the courage to look up at all 6'3 of him and i was hooked. He had the most beautiful lips...pink and perfectly shaped. He saw me staring and licked them..i quickly looked away but of course my shakara cover had been exposed. He asked me if i wanted to dance and of course i said yea...so we found our way to the dance floor and he put his arm around my waist and whispered "I've been waiting for this all night". Jisos...The guy was pulling out the big guns lol..I still remember Foxy Brown and Blackstreet's "Gotta get you home" was playing when we danced...Lets just say..i showed him what my mama gave me haha.

We danced for the most of the night until my friend finally showed up again and asked if i was ready to go (apparently her ex had showed up and they had got into a fight Lawddd) I said sure and he looked disappointed. Anyways we got ready and hopped into his car to go..we were really quiet on the way back because my friend was fuming on the phone with her dude but Yummy kept looking at me through the rear view mirror and he had the tiniest twinkle in his eye, I knew i was a goner with this boy.When we finally got to my face, my friend says a hasty bye to him and runs into the building and i stand there with him.

He asks me if i had fun and i say "Yea it wasn't bad". Shakara was back on in full force..He laughed and started walking towards me and my mouth went totally dry...The physical attraction between us was electric, He cupped my chin with his hand and gave me soft kiss on his lips..he tasted like sweet mint and my knees went weak (corny i know). I had to escape so i told him it was getting late and i wanted to check on my friend, he ignored me and wrapped me in his arms before finally giving me a kiss on the forehead and saying he wanted to see me again, i gave him my number and quickly dashed into my building before anything else happened."

How I met MR X - Nneka

HOW I MET MR. X.

I had just arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to catch a flight back to DC after a lovely xmas vacation with my family. As I made my way to the check in counter, my mind wandered to all those fairy tale stories you hear about, you know the ones, where “boy meets girl on the plane and before the flight lands, they are hopelessly in love” (cue soundtrack!) Of course those situations never happen to me or anyone I know, but they do happen right??!??

Well I boarded my Virgin Atlantic flight and settled in for the five plus hours to London before I had to connect to another British Airways flight bound for Dulles International Airport. As I sat in my window seat, and started unpacking my travel companions, (ipod, check! Magazines check! Ear plugs, check!) I noticed someone had dropped their hand luggage beside me and that’s when I saw him, Mr. X. Handsome, dark-skinned, lovely smile, perfect teeth, dressed down in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a pair of leather slippers, a total HOTTIE!! I couldn’t believe my luck! For the next five minutes I feared that the flight attendant would walk up to us and tell him he was infact seated in the wrong place. As we got ready to take off, he turned to me and introduced himself, I still felt like it wasn’t really happening, like this was all in my head or something.

From take off to touchdown, we talked about EVERYTHING, the conversation never stopped, for the first time on an international flight my entertainment console remained unused, because we just couldn’t stop talking. Till this day I have never had that type of instant connection with anyone else. As we touched down in Heathrow, he asked to see me again, but I knew it was a bad idea, not only did he live in London, while I lived in DC, but I also had a boyfriend waiting for me as well. He walked with me to baggage claim and just as we got ready to say our goodbyes he said he had a confession to make. He said he had seen me check-in at the airport in Lagos and after I left the counter he went up to the ticket agent and begged her to switch his seat so he’d be next to me!! If that wasn’t an “awwwww” moment I don’t know what is. We finally said our goodbyes and he gave me his number since I refused to give him mine. I never called him and never saw him again, but I’ve never forgotten about Mr. X.

How I met him by Damilola W

October 2008... first lecture, new city, new degree. Scanned around class to see if I could recognize anyone I knew but nope all new faces...
Question and answer session - lecturer "can someone tell me what theory is best used for this case? Anyone? Anyone at all?" Then a voice with a Caribbean accent (which sounded more American initially) started talking. I turned back (normal reflex when anyone is answering a question) and there he was... Caramel, brown eyes, clean shaved with the perfectly cut hairline.. He got my attention and certainly the attention of every other female in class...
Fast forward to the last finals and still, we had never said a word to each other. I decided the night before that I had to at least say hi for the first time since that would obviously be the last time I see him(apparently he was thinking the same thing).
Exams are over and everyone begins to disappear. I looked around and didn't see him (I thought - God, why).... So I went back to the exam hall and just as I pushed the door, I mistakenly hit him and said "oops sorry", (wasn't expecting to see him just like that). I acted like I was looking for someone else for a second and then left....
What the hell did I just do?? I told myself. That was my only chance and I blew it. Luckily, a friend wanted me to hang around for a bit and I saw him lurking around. Then he comes to me and says "hi, I just wanted to say hello since I never had the chance to, all year. I think you're really beautiful........." (While he was talking with that oh so sexy Caribbean accent, just like Taye diggs on how "Stella got her groove back".... All I was thinking was whyyy?? Why this late, I can't believe I'm not gonna see him again and then I hear.....) would you like to come for dinner at my place?? I cook a decent meal...
Now, i know what is required is just how we met but let's just say stella indeed got her groove back and the little one will be here in 5 months

How I met him : Ada E

"Hey 4aces,
Thought it would be fun to share this story with your readers!
x
Ada"

The good ole days…

It was 2nd year of college in NYC and my best friend had just come to America for the
first time on her break from school in London. Obviously very excited and being the
always fill-every-moment-with-activity host, after a Broadway show we decided to
stop by the tents on Bryant park since it was fashion week. Manhattan gets way
crazy fun during fashion week. Anyway, so we go and join the crowd outside the
tent were just enjoying being part of all the festivities when I mentioned to my
friend that I wish I knew who the designer showing that evening was.

As soon as I said that a voice from behind us said, “I can get you the program” So I’m thinking to
myself who is this person that is obviously a regular folk standing outside like us,
saying he can get us the program?? Like negro plssss lol - So I turn around and I’m
like “oh that would be great” but to my amazement he left d mob that we were all in
and walked right through the tent’s security (stopped to give them the usual
handshake & shoulder bump), and came out with 2 programs. I was like “hmm ok.”
Mind you this whole time I’m not thinking anything of this guy, he’s kind of cute but
its evening time, he’s got a funny-hipstercool-hat on and its winter so everyone just
looks a bit large from layering. So he starts talking to us, mainly my bff cause she’s
got a Brit accent and she’s pretty much hilarious. The whole time I’m kind of in and
out of the conversation until my friend said something, I turned to laugh and then
caught myself staring at him with a sheepish smile and he’s smiling back and
said “your smile is adorable.” WHERE DO YOU GO FROM THERE!!! If I was white I
would have been so RED! It dawned on me that I had been staring at him a bit
longer than necessary, examining his facial bone structure, which turned out to be
PERFECT…he was a model in the show – omg dumb me (or us).

Fastforward 1 hr we are all laughing, he gets word from one of the security guys that Eve will be arriving in 5mins, we are sophomores in college SO we get overtly excited. By the way Marc
Jacobs is showing that night, Eve comes through and the security (who are his good
friends) let us take pictures and talk to her, Kanye West & his then babe Alexis
Phifier come through and says a good 5 mins what’s up (fist and shoulder bump
included) to our stranger friend. By the end of the amazing evening, the stranger’s
equally gorgeous friend joins us and we’re all laughing outside the Mercedes Benz
tent, having an all around good time. We even hugged them both goodbye and
numbers exchanged. Two days later we all double dated for the best dinner date
ever! Bestfriend returned to London but I got myself a model boyfriend for a solid 3
years….ah goodtimes!

Reader Entry: How I met Him

Sent by Isioma Chukwuani:

Hey guys!!! This is so much fun! To begin, let me find a picture for visualization purposes.

This is Rob (I was gonna just say R, but with my igbo accent it sounded quite razz).

So, how I met him... It was the beginning of summer about 2 years ago. I had just started this internship at a psychology research lab working with depression in children. I thought depressed/ suicidal children were fascinating, so when I got accepted into this lab, I had no intention to make any friends, I just wanted to do some research and write articles. Plus, being the only black person always makes me feel awkward, so I wasn't planning on talking to any of my fellow research assistants. As time went by, many days in the lab got very boring, and since I didn't talk to anyone, I decided to draw so that I didn't end up falling asleep. Rob always sat in the prefect position, the sun rays from the window always hit his facial features beautifully, so I would always sketch his face on my notepad. I didn't think I liked him at this point, his face was just perfect to me, so I would draw it. Anyway, one afternoon I was driving home from the lab, rap music playing loud as hell, dancing at the red light, I thought I was alone on the road. I glance to my left, and there he was...waving trying to get my attention/laughing at me. *awkward moment* . I felt so...black! Haha. This red light was so long, so we kept locking eyes with each other, and then shyly looking away. During the rest of my drive back home, I kept thinking of him..'why did he keep looking at me?'...'and his smile, why is it so beautiful?'. The summer eventually came to an end, and we never said a word to each other. By the time the fall semester started, I had completely forgotten about him.

Forgotten about him, until I walked into one of my classes, and there he was! Sitting in the front of the lecture hall, playing with his hair. I didn't know what to do. I text my best friend immediately "Rob is in my class", she was confused. I waited until class was over, and then I purposely bumped into him on my out. "Oh! Isioma, we have class together? Do you want to sit next to me next class? I'll save a seat for you".....My heart melted. So each class, I sat next to him.

{I realize that a "How I Met Him" series should only talk about one romantic encounter, but you see, my life can never be that simple.}

For weeks, I sat next to this boy in class, and everyone, including our professor thought we were a couple. My professor felt joy seeing a biracial couple together, and was never secretive about sending us awkward smiles and winks during class. To Rob and I, this was comedy...in fact, to us a lot was comedy. We had the best conversations about art, music, and movies together. We would send each other texts of quoted lines from 'The Killers', 'The XX', 'The Temper Trap', and even 'Elvis Prestly'. I knew he was my type, he was an artsy kid who painted and rode his bike everywhere, but I didn't want to make the first move. Meanwhile, we were still volunteering in the depression lab, but with different class schedules, we never saw each other except for when we had class together. Until this perfect day. I went into the lab because I had to meet with one of the families and assess them, I thought I was going to be alone, then I opened the door and see Rob, sitting there. He looked so good, I didn't know what to do with myself. I had never seen him dressed up before! But there he was, with his laid back/casual artsy boy appeal dressed up with a tie and all. "Hey Isioma, I came in to help you out, because there are actually going to be two families today, there was an error in the schedule"...I was so excited! We were going to spend about 6 hours together...all alone in this lab, it was a perfect Saturday in my opinion. So we went outside to wait for the families to arrive, and it started raining. Before I could react, he grabbed my hand, and we ran hand in hand to this tree that was close by. We stood close together underneath this tree laughing at ourselves. Then he goes, "Isioma, you look really good today"...my heart stopped, I blushed, I looked into his eyes, and I said "Yea Rob, you look really good too".

*THE END*
--
Isioma Chukwuani
Rutgers University