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It wouldn’t be long before I heard a term for the phenomenon I was experiencing: the Friend Zone. But for some reason none of those worked and she just got more and more annoyed by my advances.
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I made sure to whip out all the greatest lines: telling her she was cute and telling her she was pretty and telling her she was beautiful. I put on what we in the southern US call the “full court press,” an endless barrage of flirting at every conceivable opportunity. “If she doesn’t see why you’re so great then she’s not worth your time anyway.” But I wasn’t ready to let go, so I decided to show this girl why I was such a likeable guy. To say I handled my rejection poorly would be an understatement. There was no reason not to like me, right? So what was wrong with this girl that she wasn’t interested in ALL OF THIS? *gestures to a poorly dressed dork with braces who only talks about Star Wars* Everyone I trusted in my life told me that I was essentially the ultimate boyfriend material. So you can imagine my surprise when I told that young lady how I felt and her response was to – as nicely as she could manage – inform me that she didn’t really see me as boyfriend material. Luckily, I had the advice of my family to lean on, gems such as “you’re such a smart and handsome boy, you won’t have any trouble finding a girlfriend” and “you’re a sweetheart, any girl would be lucky to have you.” The whole thing seemed like a slam dunk, really. I was smitten and I had no idea what to do with the sensations I was feeling.
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She met my incredibly high standards immediately. The subject of my affections was a girl who sat next to me in band class. I experienced my first crush in middle school.
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