Crush Zone

According to an article I read years ago, crushes are supposed to last for four months, at most. If you exceed this set period of time, you have most likely fallen in love with that person.

The thing is, I don't think that's true. I've had crushes that went beyond four months, reaching years even. But, I've not fallen in love with one of them. And, I probably never will. You see, I believe we need to know someone, at least to a certain degree, before we truly and completely fall for them. We need to get a sense of who they are as a person. We need to understand at least a portion of them. We need to have something to grab hold of.

But, crushes are just that. Crushes. More often than not, they're people we don't even get to talk to. They're just faces that pass us by often enough to be noticed. Characteristics we've drawn from small, insignificant gestures from a long ways away (because, let's face it, all of us become a bit stalkerish when it comes to our crushes). Personalities we made up. Images we daydreamed about.

We know their names. Their age, maybe. Their schedules. Their favorite hangouts. Hopefully, not their home address. Despite all these information, we don't really know who they are. And, that's okay. Because, deep down, we don't want to know who they really are. We're content with the ideal person we've made them up to be in our minds.

We don't want to get to know them. Not really. Because if we do, we'll realize they're not who we thought they were. They're not really our crush. They're nothing but the face to the perfect person we want for ourselves. And, compared to the image we've formed in your minds, they come nowhere close.

So, as much as we blush and squeal and get giddy when they're around, we don't go close enough to get to know them. Because they'll just shatter the illusion. So, we keep our distance and watch and imagine and pine. But that's it. And, in doing so, we outline the Crush Zone.

***

Yeah. So, the thought just came to me when I was hit by a question that has been directed at me millions of times ago.

"If *insert my crush's name here* returned your feelings and asked you out, what would you say?"

I've always said I wouldn't agree to it. I didn't know why, but I just didn't want to. Then, it hit me. Crush Zoned. It happens. Or, at least it happens to me. Anyone else?

Anyway, just like that, I have the plot for my next novel already mapping itself out in my head. Now, I just need to get my lazy self to actually start writing. ^^,