Crushing on a special someone in secret? So is this GL reader. Here's her love letter to the guy of her dreams.

Dear R,

I liked you from the moment I heard you open your big mouth and tell the teacher that she had done the math wrong.

My friends all said that you're a show-off, but I know that's not true.

You're just smart.

Like me.

I knew you were different from the other boys.

The boys who stared at the meanest girl in school, and fantasized that she would be their girlfriend.

Or whatever.

For a year, I thought about you non-stop.

And then...

Everything changed that day.

It was Valentine's day.

We did an activity in History about the arranged marriage system in India.

We were to vote (supposedly anonymously) on who we wanted to be arranged with.

I was so hopeful.

I thought it would be me who you would choose.

I thought maybe you were harboring the same feelings that I felt for you.

That every time I walked down that hallway, your heart went into spasms.

Just like mine.

Until I saw you write down the name of the meanest girl in school.

And I realized that you weren't different from the other boys.

The boys who stared at the meanest girl in school, and fantasized that she would be their girlfriend.

Or whatever.

So why am I writing this? I know that you don't like me. I'm just the quiet girl who sat next to you in English.

The girl who laughed at your jokes.

And the girl who loved competing against you in the Geography bee.

When I see you walk down the hallway, and I see that flash of blonde hair, and that smirk that I know means you're about to prove to everyone that you're smart, I still remember that Valentine's day.

But I also remember the day you smiled at me and laughed at my joke.

One of the few times I was brave enough to speak to you.

I remember.

by GL Reader | 2/1/2016