Since the beginning of our childhoods, we have them. Sometimes they turn into something bigger and sometimes not. But we need to have them to experience that 'head over heels' phrase that gets tossed around too much. Crushes. Whether it's that girl you're dying to ask out or that boy you stare at every day in Math. How do you know when you have a crush? How can you make your crush into a full-scale relationship? How do you know when they like you back? The simple answer: You don't.
You just can't go up to someone and blurt out "I like you, let's be boyfriend girlfriend", can you? You can, but what are the chances that's going to work? So you probably work up the nerve to ask your friend to ask him/her if they like anyone. Or you give stupid hints every day hoping they understand before it's too late.
And we all know the feeling of rejection. Not so much the asking out and getting stood up, mostly it's that you like someone from afar and they turn out to be dating someone else. And then what? You can't wit for them to break up. You can't throw away the crush that's been growing since first grade. My recent encounter with a crush went a little like this:
[the made-up name,Peeta will be put up instead of the real name]
As I walked around the basketball court, my friend asked me a question. "Do you like anybody?" Well,this was a normal question tossed around between the girls in my grade. You either had none, lied, or said yes and kept it a secret. "Eh,it's not really a crush. More like I think a guy is cute," I told her. She raised her eyebrows.
"If you tell me who, I'll tell you!" She offered. And me, being the dork I am, I agreed. "Okay,it's this super cute dancer that I saw in the first week of school," I told her. "Name?" She asked with more interest. I shrugged, "No idea."
She looked a bit irritated but I asked her for her crush. "You didn't tell me who you liked," she said in defense. "I don't know his name!" I exclaimed. "Fine . . . this guy named Bob," she said. I nodded, not caring anymore. I knew no one by that name so it didn't really matter.
But it did, because that afternoon another one of my friends from Bob's class came over to me and while we were talking, she mentioned someone named Bob. "Bob,as in the cute-guy everyone's talking about?" I asked. She nodded, "He was dancing at recess-" I cut her off.
"Hip-hop?"I asked, remembering the guy in all-black doing the cat-daddy (don't judge) in the basketball court. Everyone had surrounded him as he swung a girl around. She was a grade below us and I felt kind of jealous of her. I later learned that she was his sister and felt kind of stupid.
I searched for a Bob all that week. And then on Friday someone called out"Bob" and a guy turned to face him. It was him! The cute dancer. My crush was Bob! He was turned so his eyes were directed to me. His smile was that of an older guy, even though he was in my grade. He had green eyes and dimples and just a cool feel about him. I felt red in the face and hurried off to my locker.
And that was only the beginning.I told my friend that we had the same crush and she joked that she was going to get him first. I didn't want to date because I felt awkward about the whole thing and thought I was too young, but I didn't want her to have him to herself. "Yeah right," I forced a smile and decided to let him know that I existed.
Are you hoping for a happy ending? I practically stalked the guy at school as he laughed with his friends. I wished he would look at me with those laughing eyes. But he hung out with the "bad kids". The ones with failing grades and too many relationships. No happy ending,guys. He dated about three girls in one month and got all F's, which he was very proud of as he boasted to his "friends". But it was easier to look away from his dazzling smile after a while. And now, while he acts like a bum with referrals every day, I can be with my friends, laughing the way he used to.
We all have crushes. Some lead to amazing relationships and even marriage, like my parents. But some fail like mine. But we are sometimes too young to understand or that person is not the right one. But you got to love the blushes, and hissed conversations with your friends about the cutest guy/girl in the grade. It helps us all grow in all sorts of different ways. And sometimes you have to just be brave and face them with the QUESTION. How bad can it actually be if they reject you? You have a good chance that someone is crushing on you!
-izettzoo
