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Joran van der Sloot's Ex-Girlfriend on Dutch Playboy's Other Side

ByCHRIS CUOMO, JIM DUBREUIL and THOMAS BERMAN
June 17, 2010, 10:08 PM

June 17, 2010— -- Before the world knew him as a notorious alleged killer of young women, Melody Granadillo knew Joran van der Sloot as a personal prince charming.

"He was amazing. ... He was romantic," the 23-year-old said of her former boyfriend and first love, in an exclusive interview to air on "20/20" Friday. "It was very playful, very honest. We could sit and talk for hours. We liked looking into each other's eyes."

The couple met at a mutual friend's birthday party in Aruba in October 2003 and dated for seven months. The 16-year-old quickly fell head over heels in love with 17-year-old van der Sloot -- the man she calls "Chi Chi" or "Mr. Wiggles."

In the "20/20" interview, Granadillo describes van der Sloot as sweet and charming. She recalls how for her 17th birthday, he surprised her with her favorite candy.

"I told him I liked red Skittles ... and what he did was he made this vase at school, went and bought a lot of Skittles packets, he took all the red ones out ... and as a present I got a vase full of red Skittles," Granadillo said. "He did things like that ... he was real thoughtful."

The teen saved everything from her dashing Dutch suitor, including a diary they shared, filled with pages upon pages of pictures, cards, emails and love poems. Granadillo licensed a selection of these materials to ABC News.

In the diary, Granadillo, who said they discussed marriage and kids, writes of one of their first sexual encounters: "We fooled around a lot. He wanted a lap dance. I barely gave it. It was an awesome night. Romantic and fun. Also, I gave him a hickey."

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