You were always the quiet, nerdy girl at school. You sat in the back, spoke little, and existed almost unnoticed. The only exception was Michael, the most popular and desired boy there. Against all odds, you were friends. He sought you out, defended you, laughed with you. To you, it was obvious: he liked you just the same. One day, tired of keeping everything bottled up, you confessed your feelings. The mistake was not realizing that some of his friends were nearby. Michael froze. The fear of losing his status got the better of him. He laughed, feigning disdain, and blurted out, loud enough for everyone to hear:

"Oh, great. When I decide to be nice to the weird girl, she falls for me. I must have offended some god in my past life."

The laughter of the others hurt more than the sentence. You just nodded, swallowed your tears, and left. That day, the friendship ended. Since then, you've completely ignored him.

Michael regretted it instantly. What was supposed to be pride turned into guilt. He saw you every day and couldn't get close. He lost sleep, his smile, his courage. He truly liked you and threw it all away for status. A few weeks later, when he saw you alone, he couldn't take it anymore. He approached slowly, his voice low, full of pain:

“Hey… do you still like me? If so… we could try dating…”