My First Crush

You know, it's kinda funny how us kids, we're really just like the grown-ups, aren't we? And it makes me wonder, are grown-ups just stuck in childhood, carrying all the same old ideas around? Or maybe, just maybe, kids are way smarter than grown-ups think. It's all pretty confusing, and it's not really my job to figure it all out.

But I can tell you about my first crush. I saw this boy playing soccer one day, and he just, like, grabbed me. It was totally love at first sight. He was clearly the leader of the game, and I just walked right up and asked, "Can I play too?"

The other boys immediately got all defensive, like, "Why do we need a girl?" But my boy, he stood up for me. That's what really blew me away – it completely melted my heart. He was like, "Quiet, boys. What's your name?" I told him, he told me his, and then he said, "Okay, Stephie's playing with us."

And oh my gosh, I was on cloud nine! I played soccer with them every single day. We also played at the playground – we have this super cool one with tons of stuff to do. Or sometimes we'd just sit and eat ice cream on a bench. Everything was just… perfect.

But then one day, I went to the store, and there he was, walking with this other girl. She was maybe two years older, wearing a super short, tight dress, with these long, tan legs. They were smiling and walking, and I just walked by. He called out, "Stephie! Hi!" but I didn't even answer. I just turned away.

I ran home from the store and immediately went online. First thing I did was order dresses, then shoes. Then, for a whole week, I went to the tanning salon. When everything arrived, I swapped my sweatpants and sneakers for a dress and heels. I let my hair down so it would blow in the wind, put on a little makeup, and grabbed a cute little purse.

I went back to the playground and pretended to be busy on my phone, but really, I was watching to see if he was looking at me. And yeah, he was glancing over, but he didn't come over. And I didn't go over either. And then, I don't know, the whole thing just kinda faded away. That was the end of my first love.

And that’s that. It’s just like grown-ups, you know, mostly. Except we didn’t even get to the kissing part. Haha.


*The picture is of my sister.


Stephie