It took me all of 10 years to get over my high school crush — as in I only got over him a few months ago. He popped up as a suggested friend on Facebook (um, no thanks) and I could tell from his photo that he's now happily married with kids. No thanks to that, too. It's weird that high school crushes seem to linger for years when I can barely remember the last name of that guy I went on an actual date with two months ago.
In addition to the family man Facebook so desperately wants me to befriend (again), I can still name every single one of my adolescent crushes and the streets they lived on at the time. Imagine the things I could accomplish if I freed up the file cabinets of my brain dedicated to storing that useless information. Help me out here, science?
Anyway, my high school track record of crushes looks a lot like a 2000s reboot of The Breakfast Club — without the awesome soundtrack or a cute, long-haired rebel thrusting his fist in the air because he finally won me over. A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. OK, so the kids who tugged at my heartstrings in high school weren't exactly like this, but they came pretty close. These are the six high school crushes I'm almost certain we all had at one time or another.
You know the one. If they weren't throwing the party, they were definitely first on the guest list. You would do anything to hang out with this person, like tell them their horrible taste in music was actually so fetch. Cool as they were in high school, this kid seemed to fall off the radar after graduation. You either never heard about them again or the things you did hear, you just couldn't believe. No amount of movie-like nostalgia could convince you to go out with them now. And that, my friends, is why you never want to peak in high school.
Odds are this person is still making wise cracks in their Instagram captions. Back in high school, their organic charisma and huge personality drew you in helplessly. You couldn't decide whether you wanted to be them or just be with them, honestly. Either way, you were happy to know them. They're still at the center of your fondest high school memories.
Musician, artist, poet... whatever. This kid was going places! Even though you didn't understand them, you still wanted to be associated with them. You didn't care that this made you a groupie. In fact, you're probably looking them up on social media right now to see what they've been up to (hosting a podcast, I'm betting). Hit that follow button. I approve.
You still know way more about lacrosse than you care to admit and it's all thanks to this aspiring Olympian. You made game-day posters, wore face paint... heck, you even tried out for the team just to be near them. Let's be honest. You still think of them for inspiration at your weekly barre class.
Ugh, tell me you didn't have major heart eyes whenever this arrogant bastard corrected the teacher. A love-hate relationship, sure, because they set the bar way too high for everyone else. Silently, you admired their determination and intellect. Still do, actually.
The downfall of my teenage existence. Yours, too? This kid was a firm believer that rules were meant to be broken and although you were never brave enough to be an accomplice, you were always there for the show. In a crazy turn of events, they grew up to be a doctor, or lawyer, or tax accountant, leaving you to contemplate whether or not you're morally obligated to let their clients know about their seedy past.
Turns out, you still have a thing for rule-breakers. How's it going with that person who doesn't seem to get how text conversations work? You know, the one who leaves you on "read" all the time? Ugh. Blame it on high school crushes that linger on for way too long.
