By: Rachel Liao

She looked across the room, looking at the boy she admired, holding her shiny instrument in the grip. She wished she had the bravery to confess to him right about now.

As the boy looked back in her direction, she quickly looked down at her feet, face turning red. She felt brave. She looked up back at him, and noticed him smiling at her. She tried to hold back her crooked smile. The boy looked away, laughing in the meantime.

I’ve been friends with him for years, and I have liked him for quite a while, and I’m now at the point where I can’t even look him in the eyes? How embarrassing of you, Selena, she thought to herself.

After her rehearsal, which felt like forever, she returned to the main band room, where everybody meets up to pack up and be dismissed. When Selena stepped out the door and walked towards the front entrance, she could see her friends talking on the bench, laughing, and smiling, one of the people being her crush.

Her eyes widened, and she breathed deeply, walking towards them. Her crush looked in her direction, and she waved.

After a few minutes everybody was fooling around, while the parents were talking. Selena had the chance to touch her crush’s hand, which left her flushed, never wanting to wash her hands again. She would never forget that moment when she placed her hands on top of his soft ones.

When she walked home, she went on her computer. She had the urge to rant to her friends again about this boy. In the end, she only told her best friend a couple details about their interactions, trying to understand whether he might like her back. Her friend kept encouraging her that he likes her back and just won’t admit it, but she found it quite hard to believe.

She thought that after all of these years, he has always liked other girls, never her. She kept telling herself to be bold and like somebody else, and leave him in the dust, but it just seemed like the day would never come. The longer she longed for it, the more depressed she grew. She was desperate to know his thoughts.

She thought about him all day and all night. She feared that her strong feelings would lead to heartbreak. She had never confessed to him before, and the thought of being rejected was too much to bear.

She shut down her computer. She took a deep breath, and slowly walked t other bed, wondering why love was such a dilemma.