In 2003 we were both 17 years old and wound up in an AP English class together in Martin Luther King Jr. High School. There we met and became acquaintances. Every once in a while we would sit down at the same lunch table in the cafeteria and engage in "small-talk" until one day Jackie realized she was developing a crush on this quiet, "shy" kid. She enlisted the help of a friend to investigate my relationship status. When this friend asks me whether or not I was single, since a girl had a crush on me I told him "if she is pretty, then tell her I'm single...if not, then tell her I'm not". Of course he tells her that I'm single.

Then one day in January of 2004 I get passed a note during lunch on a brown paper napkin reading: "Hey Lenny, the girl that Jahmel spoke to you of is me...if you're interested...do you". I was taken by much surprise and since I was hiding a little secret from Jackie I decided not to approach her. The secret was that I actually wasn't single and had been with a girl from D.R. since the summer of 2003. (sneaky me)

A month later, I broke up with this girl, who I was having too many problems with anyway and decided to let some time pass before I would pursue Jackie who I thought was cute.

So, in March of 2004 I wrote Jackie a letter. (I type-wrote Jackie several letters). Every single time I thought I had developed the courage to give it to her, I would punk out and the letter would sit in my book bag for weeks and would get corroded enough for me to have to write a fresh one. Then one day in May of 2004, I finally decided I would be the day. I gave the letter to a friend to give to Jackie. In this letter I explained to Jackie my reason for not pursuing her further and asked whether I still had a chance. That same night she called me. We spoke and the rest was history.

We ended up going to senior prom together, spent that summer together and fell in love. The rest is history.