Now’s my chance. I can’t waste it like I’ve wasted them all before. Not that I really had many chances in the past. But this one, this one is for real.

You’re standing there at your locker, for once not surrounded by your fellow cheerleaders or a jock trying to get your attention. It’s just you. Exchanging out your books and just…looking beautiful. But you always look beautiful, so that’s nothing new.

I’ve known you since we were little kids. Saying I’ve ‘known you’ might be a bit of a stretch. More of a I’ve known of you. You’ve always been in my classes and sometimes we’d even be paired together for projects, ones you probably don’t even remember. But they were the best weeks of my life.

Back when we were little, you were just like any other kid. A little more reckless on my jungle gym and always raising your hand with the right answer, but the cliques hadn’t formed yet. That happened when we hit high school. With you background in gymnastics, it made sense that you joined the cheerleading team. But with that came the popularity, the friends, and the jocks—aka my mortal enemies.

The people you associate yourself with are the people who hate me the most. The quiet kid with his nose always in a book and his head always down. I don’t have many friends, mainly just one, but I like it like this. I like my solitude and studying. I don’t care if it makes me nerd.

Well, sometimes I care. Because if I wasn’t a nerd, you might actually notice me.

You’re not like your friends, though. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. You’re kind and thoughtful, not like their selfish and mean selves. You’re smart and talented and so incredibly gorgeous that it hurts to even imagine you sometimes.

But I can’t keep living with this undying crush inside of me anymore. I need to just go up to you and try. I know that it’ll most likely end up with me getting my heartbroken, but at least then maybe I can just move on.

I force my feet to walk across the hall toward you, feeling my heart speed up to an unhealthy rhythm. As soon as I’m close enough, I reach out and gently tap you shoulder—so awkward.

You turn around, a smile already on your face, but it falters when you realize that you don’t recognize me.

“H-Hi… Uh, I’m H-Harry. We… We have a few classes together,” my voice shakes uncontrollably as I speak, making a right fool of myself.

“Oh, right, yeah…” you say, but I can read it on your face that you still have no idea who I am.

“So, uhm, I was just… I was wondering if— I just wanted to ask if maybe… Maybe, possibly, you might, uhm… You might want to—I don’t know, uhm…” I’m rambling now, and I can feel my cheeks getting hotter by the second. “Maybe we could, uhm…h-hang out sometime?”

There! I said it! It’s out there! The invitation lingers between us and I wish I could reach out and shove them back into my mouth.

When you don’t say anything for a few seconds, my anxiety makes me blurt again, “If- If you don’t w-want to, that-that’s fine, I just—“