Memior- My (Not) First Date After my Mission

I had come home, I had served a successful 18 month mission and I was ready to continue my life where I had left it, which revolved around the two D’s, dating and more importantly, dancing. My first week back in the singles ward found me introduced to a cute blonde guy with amazing blue eyes and a beautiful white smile. He was a couple years younger than me which I was a little concerned about but when he looked at me with those baby-blues, I forgot my own name. We talked for awhile and by a twist of fate he mentioned that he was going to go dancing at a new club, Club Overdrive. I said that I loved dancing and asked him what day he would be going and I’d meet him there. He offered to pick me up since it was difficult to find the place (It wasn’t that difficult to find). I accepted and excitedly looked forward to getting my dance on.
The night finally arrived; I was dressed and ready to go. I was wearing my favorite cowboy boots, a tight pair of jeans and a belt buckle you could play frisbee with. Baby-Blue picked me up in his yellow pick-up truck and we were off. We pulled into an empty parking lot and found out that the club was closed for the week for repairs. I was disappointed because I had dressed up for nothing and I wasn’t going to be able to dance. He muttered “Man, this date isn’t going very well.” I didn’t say anything but I was thinking “What date? This isn’t a date, you gave me a ride.” All of a sudden he perked up and said “I’ve got an idea.” How I would come to dread those words in the following four hours…He drove his truck around to the back of the club and said we could just dance back there. Umm, ok. He tried to find a radio station but for some unearthly reason that I’ll never know, we couldn’t get one good station. So he told me I could pick some music from his CD collection. I had such a hard time deciding if Mozart or Rage Against the Machine would be better for line-dancing. After about 20 minutes of uncomfortable two stepping to Mozart’s 31st symphony, Baby-Blue said “I’ve got an idea.” (I was hoping his idea was to take me home)
We jumped in his truck and he took off the wrong way on a one way street. He refused to tell me where we were going and at that point I wasn’t going to complain as long as we were going the same direction that the rest of the traffic.
As we drove to downtown Salt Lake City, the lights of the Salt Lake Temple mocked me; they seemed to know what the evening would bring. As Baby-Blue pulled up to the temple, I saw the silhouettes of lovers walking, sitting, holding hands, and even a few kissing around the grounds of the temple. I was dressed in a pair of very tight jeans and my cowboy boots with a guy I hardly knew who thought we were on a date. Not the best recipe for going to the temple. We walked on the grounds and found ourselves a spot to sit and talk. I must admit that I enjoyed the time we spent talking. We talked about our missions, horses, camping, and other unmemorable things. After about 45 minutes of talking, our conversation slowed and Baby-Blue looked up to the temple and said “I can’t wait to go in there and get married”

AAAUUGGHHH!!!!Warning lights went off in my brain as my anti-commitment sensor told me that once again my charms had seduced another boy and it was time to cut off all contact. But he was not going to go down without a fight…We walked towards his truck, dodging engaged couples dancing along the paths of the temple grounds. As we arrived at the truck he looked at me and smiled “I’ve got an idea” he said to me as he slowly reached into the glove box of his truck. My heart skipped as my mind convinced me that he was reaching for the engagement ring he keeps in his truck in case of emergencies. I looked at him warily as he pulled out a huge ziplock bag full of pennies. “Have you ever played the 100-wishing game?” he asked. I had never even heard of this strange game before, I figured it was a Utah-Mormon thing. Kind of like coming to the temple on a first date, that wasn’t even a first date. He guided me back to the temple grounds “Pick a fountain” he said “any fountain you want.” I hesitantly pointed to the closest fountain to the exit. He excitedly told me the rules of the 100-wishing game. “You take a penny from the bag; make a wish out loud and throw the penny in the fountain. Then the other person gets a turn, we get to do this until all the pennies are gone.” My eyes widened with horror as I estimated the number of pennies bulging out of the largest ziplock bag I’d ever seen in my life. “I’ll start” said Baby-Blue. He looked into my eyes, grabbed a penny and said “I wish that I could get married soon.” Plop, went the penny as it hit the water. “I wish that I can marry a return missionary” Plop! “I wish that I can have lots of kids” Plop! My mind raced as I began to prepare my “I’m not looking for a relationship” speech that I was sure I would have to give as soon as he proposed to me.“You’re turn” he said as he offered me a penny. He looked at me expectantly as I took the penny from his fingers. “I wish that I could have gone dancing tonight” Plop! Baby-Blue took another penny for himself “I wish that I can get married in the temple, soon.” Plop! My turn, I panic and say “I wish that my dog was here” Plop! My survival extinct kicked as I began to grab pennies out to the bag by the handful. “I wish I had a truck” Plop, plop, plop, plop!!! I don’t believe in wishing anymore because every time I threw a penny in I was thinking “I wish this ‘date’ is really a nightmare and I was home in bed.” No, I was still there. “I wish that my wife and I will have a very happy marriage.” Plop! Those baby-blue eyes no longer had the same effect on me; they were now my greatest fear. What seemed like an eternity passed until at last the bag of pennies was gone. I told Crazy Baby-Blue that it was late and I needed to get home. I walked slightly ahead of him to his truck. I was in my seat and buckled up before he even arrived at the truck. As we drove towards my house we passed parts of downtown Salt Lake, I didn’t say a word. There were no more words to say, I thought. We passed some empty buildings Crazy Baby-Blue looked at them and turned to me “I’ve got and idea!” “No” I said “I really need to get home.” “Oh, ok.” He seemed a little disappointed. As he pulled up to my house he asked me if I wanted to go out again. “No, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” I said as I turned and walked into the house.