Mistop #2: Deaz

Yesterday, I introduced the concept of the "Mistop," or any girl whom I could have become romantically involved with had I made more of an effort or acted more quickly, which would make it a "missed opportunity." In rapid succession, we now go to #2. Her name was Deaz. (Note that it will be a little bit before I get around to #3.)

Deaz was a year younger than me. She had medium-length black hair and probably weighed about 30 pounds more than me. At the time, I thought she was Hispanic, but her last name was Anglo and she had no accent. A few years ago, I started wondering if she was actually Filipino. The only thing that counters this is that I wasn't aware of any Filipinos who lived in Artesia, except for this one woman who was a friend of my Mom's sometime after I had left home.

Deaz was in Choir (as was #1, Niz). As I mentioned before, the group got to go to the Six Flags over Texas Music Festival in the spring of 1982. We spent a couple of days at the amusement park. The final day I somehow wound up spending the day with Deaz and this other girl, Marid. Marid was new to the school and her presence created a stir because she was half-Black and half-Mexican, but she was cool to hang around with.

One thing about Marid was that she could not go on the scarier rides. This meant that Deaz and I went on a lot of them together. One of the rides looks like a ferris wheel, but goes really fast and the individual cars turn upside-down. I sat behind Deaz. The centrifugal force pressed the full weight of her body against mine for about three minutes. I hated to admit it, but I was actually enjoying it. I think she enjoyed it as well, because we went on the ride two more times.

So, yeah, I was definitely picking up the vibe that she liked me. But it put me in a quandry. I debated with myself as to whether I should see if she wanted to go out with me. On the one hand, I did have a lot of fun during the time I spent with her at the park. We got along very well. On the other hand, she wasn't that smart, and I sort of had a problem with her weight. (However, I should point out that if she was a good student, her weight would not have been an issue.)

In the end, I'm glad I didn't hook up with Deaz. It would have made it a lot harder to go to college if I was emotionally involved with her. I would have come home every weekend to spend with her. I would have been anxious about the possiblity that she was cheating on me. It would have made me a nervous wreck and my grades in college wound being bad enough without having a girlfriend in Artesia to worry about.

I know that the next year, Deaz won an award at the Choir's year-end banquet. She was named "Most Improved," which was the same award I got my sophomore year. About a year after that, I ran into her at the mall in Roswell. She had a kid. I excitedly told her hi. She said hi back, but not with as much enthusiasm. That would be the last time I would ever see her.

Because her first and last names are so common, I have been unable to locate her on the Internet. I'm left with so much on this blog that has no actual closure.