High school crushes are the stuff horribly inappropriate dreams are made of. That feeling of butterflies 'til you want to hurl is something almost all of us know--and love to hate... or hate that we love.
Depends on how sappy you are.
There isn't a high school based bit of media out there that doesn't feature at least one character having a crush so heavy it seems like they can barely function--and that's because teen feels are the biggest most ridiculous feels of all. They're the kind that can change you for forever.
One Reddit user asked:
How did your high school crush turn out as an adult?
Most of the responders spoke about those high school crushes with quite a bit of fondness, proving my point.
The Rollercoaster
He had a rollercoaster of a life. I admire him more than ever, and more than most people I know, but can't wrap my head around why I ever found him physically attractive. Maybe it was always just his heart.
By age 25, he had a PhD, a wife, and was a captain in the navy. By 30, he had two PhDs, a small business where he made a metric ton of money, and his wife was pregnant.
By 31 he was diagnosed with stage-4 skin cancer that swiftly spread to his lymph nodes, bones, esophagus, and a few other places. He was told he had minimal chance of making it 5 more years. Even with the best health insurance money can buy, it still basically wiped him out.
Seven years later, he's living a comfortable but not extravagant life as a civilian contractor for the navy, same wife and two happy healthy kids, and spends most of his free time advocating for better public health care.
- theMycon
Do Overs
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Haha, he's my husband!
Our first marriages didn't work out and we reconnected after our divorces.
If only I would have confessed I had a crush on him in high school, might have saved myself a lot of trouble... Lol
That's exactly like me and my current husband! Except, I'm glad that we did our own thing before we got together. He was wayyyyy to immature as a young adult and would have messed it up.
Me too! After marrying other people, children and divorces, we reconnected and now we're married.
We are best friends, lovers and he makes me laugh like no one else. I love my husband.
Similar story here. I had a huge crush on him in high school, but never said anything. Then I dated and got engaged to a total piece of sh*t in my early 20s.
After that ended in violence, I went home to heal and reconnected with my crush on Myspace. We've been together 12 years now, married 5, and have 2 adorable girls together.
It was good though that we didn't get together in high school. He had an on again/off again high school sweetheart that he kept going back to and I think if we'd gotten together then, I would've been a rebound and not a permanent thing.
No One To Blame
She's still hot, a successful and wealthy entrepreneur, and married someone with the same first name as me and who quit his job to brew beer.
I crushed on her for a bit, didn't think she was interested so I dated others, then come to find out she crushed on me senior year, I was too dumb and blind, we connected freshman year of college, she wrote me letters, and by the time I wised up she had moved on.
No one to blame but myself.
His Heart
I had a huge crush on a guy I was close friends with in high school. We graduated in the early 2000s.
He overdosed and died in 2019.
I got to see him before he was taken off life support with a really good mutual friend we shared (organ donor too). It was surreal seeing him dwarfed by all these machines.
He had one the largest hearts I've ever come across.
Testing The Waters
Still cute as heck, one of the kindest and most sensitive people I know, and still one of my best friends 15 years later.
He's also recently divorced (his wife was gay but needed time and support to come to terms with it) and now he and I are slowly testing the waters :) What started as a crush has matured into a deep and rich friendship, and—however it may unfold—I'm so grateful to have that relationship in my life.
That Last Sentence
Still a ten for looks. I'm sure she kept on as the amazing, kind person she is. She moved to another country, speaks multiple languages and is more successful than I imagined.
She seems happy but we haven't talked since the time I told her how I felt about her about 20 years ago.
Too Much Success?
Went on to be a teenaged model for hair products, graduated from Yale, toured Europe, opened her own successful ceramics company that is sold worldwide and is often written up in magazines.
Makes me feel like sh*t every time I think of her.
Buddy life isn't fair nor equal. Some people start from 0 some start from -4 some start from 10 because they had so much opportunities and lots of support.
Its unfair to compare yourself to anyone ... like it's not supposed to be a thing at all because everyones life is different
"But Erica," you say to yourself "High school was the bullest of sh*ts, not some Hollywood feel good coming of age story! It was hell and there is NO WAY I'm speaking with 'fondness' about ... "
Shhh shh shh, my little bitter Betties. I feel you.
My high school crush joined a cult, changed his name, and has embraced misogyny and pseudo-science like it's a profession.
(If you're reading this, no a woman's period is not supposed to be a dot, it has nothing to do with her diet, you don't know how women's bodies work and I hope you get it together before your daughter gets her first menses.)
For those of you who didn't exactly get the 80's movie ending (or got the Less Than Zero 80's movie ending instead of the Sixteen Candles 80's movie ending) - take heart.
It sucked for these people too.
Little Pig
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Back when I was younger and crushing hard I got on AOL instant messenger and had gotten my crush's screenname from a friend. I worked up the nerve to start a conversation with him and soon after some awkward small talk he sent me a message in Comic Sans, black background, red lettering, and in French.
I then went to google for translation and found out he had just called me a pig, in French. Being a seemingly awkward and chubby teenager, I was literally crushed.
The heartbreak was only made worse by remembering that a few weeks prior I had selected to take French class the next year and couldn't change it.
Years later now that I've blossomed he follows me on every social media platform, has reached out a couple of times to try and flirt/hang out. Hard pass.
I believe he's moved away and is a teacher now.
Too Strict
My only girlfriend in high school was my crush. Her mom banned her from dating me after about a year because my GF admitted to her mom that we were fooling around. This was about 20 years ago.
She's still living with her mom, no kids, and as far as I know never again dated seriously after her mom broke us up. Still has the same job from high school too. It's like her mom went way into protective overdrive and my former GF never grew up.
- USPO-22
There are 3 women here on my street (they're my neighbors, they don't live on the street) that are old (one in her 50's and the others in their 60's) and never had a partner.
Two of them are sisters and live together, the other lives alone. They all had the same story: their parents were too restrictive and never let them date anyone. So now they're old and are socially awkward.
The sisters never even had a pet before their mom died. Now they have a cute puppy.
I find their situation really sad. You should respect your parents but you shouldn't follow only their will.
For Other's Entertainment
I remember walking up to her and asking if we could talk in private, and she said you can say what you need in front of everyone (her group of friends were all around).
So I asked if she wanted to go on a date. She burst out laughing and said "yeah, Um no.."
It was rough, man.
Looked her up last year and she's a cage fighter now.
I guess she's always been a pro at hurting people for others' entertainment.
- Briorash
My Favorite
I had two unrealized crushes in high school. One is a teacher and musician. She is married and has either one or two kids. We've kept in loose contact via social media and ran into each other at a NYE party shortly before she got married. I was introduced to her now-husband as 'favorite ex ever.'
He seemed like a decent dude and I'm happy for her.
I believe the other became a US Attorney. I have not heard from her since google+ almost became a social media thing. I imagine she's still very productive and would be disappointed in my life choices.
The Senior
I was a freshman and had a crush on a senior. To add to it, she was a cheerleader and her brother played QB for the football team (and got a college scholarship.)
She showed up at a football game a couple of years later with a baby in tow. She's married now and back in her hometown. That's about all I know.
Remember Me
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Found her on tinder, she said I was hot. Pointed out that I was that loser she used to know in high school. Had a big laugh. Been a little over a year, now we send each other memes and hang out occasionally when the pandemic isn't being a witch.
The Good Guys
They both ended up as great guys.
One has a huge family and is a minister. The other only has one child and is a college professor. Both married nice people and are happy.
They were really good guys in high school and ended up being really good adults. I've got both of them on Facebook and we keep in touch peripherally as we stayed friends over the years.
FB Sleuth
It was one of those days where they just suddenly pop into your head and you decide to try and look them up on Facebook. Found him. He ended up being a pilot. Added him and we became Facebook friends. Turns out he has a flight attendant girlfriend and they were traveling together and then few months after being fb friends they shared the news they were having a baby haha.
All the Boys
I had several!
One of them is still a close friend, and he became a primary care doctor. He also officiated my wedding.
I have no idea what happened to another one. We didn't really have overlapping friend groups and she doesn't do social media.
One of them is a math professor now, so that's pretty cool.
My BIGGEST crush in high school was my longtime neighbor, but it also fizzled out pretty quickly after we went to homecoming together. We're still good friends, and our families still keep in touch. He's also the guy who introduced me to my husband.
0/3
I had three. One from the first two years and two from the last two.
The first one is now F to M trans, who walked to Colorado to join a cult/commune. He is now in Arizona recording rap albums.
The second girl moved to Florida and lives in a swamp.
She periodically hits me up to tell me she misses me, how dumb I was that I didn't follow through, that we should get married.
The third was a missionary. She wasn't really into it once she grew up, came back home and I introduced her to one of my closest friends. They've been married for 15 years.
0/3.
It's You!
I briefly worked with mine and didn't realise it was her until I left for another job. She looked almost unrecognisable, but it was 15 years after I last saw her. She's married with a couple of kids now, so pretty standard life I guess.
She be Fancy
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You made me check and she is actually a very successful artist and an art teacher at a renowned university in France. She even got decorated for her work (Chevalier des arts et des lettres).
EDIT: Thanks for the attention, i'm not really willing to give much more details. I'm just going to add that she's french and she's not teaching in Paris.
The Ghost
He was this nice cool guy who would consistently post memes and stuff on social media. Then 2 or 3 years later, he deleted all of his social media. I don't have his phone number or know any friends that know him so I don't know how he's doing but I hope he's doing well.
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It’s weird how much stuff we let slide when we’re kids. Even if you look at the TV shows we watched back then, we had such a high threshold for the bizarre (early 2000’s Nickelodeon, anyone?). So it’s no surprise that some of us straight-up didn’t react when we saw weird crap in person.
Here are a few wild examples of seemingly harmless things we saw as kids that would be horrifying to see now. Brace yourself, this one gets crazy.
Kids and water aren’t a great mix sometimes. It can get real gross, real quick.
Not worth the tranquility.
I've always loved the tranquil feeling of being under water. When I was a kid I would just hold my breath and float around. Sometimes adults would think I was drowning and run up and scoop me out. I don't remember this (it was when I was pretty young) but my parents have told me about it
I used to think it was a funny story... people thinking I was drowning when I was just trying to relax
....until I watched a video explaining child drownings and yeah, the way I acted in water looked exactly like a drowned kid.
I don't think it's funny anymore.
Uhhhhhh.....ew?
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Flood water. It was fun and games for the kids, and we even splashed around in it, much to the horror of our parents (who immediately scrubbed us down). We didn't understand then, but now, oh wow...sewer, insects, rats, parasites, etc.
That’s actually hilarious.
My friend and I were walking along the road in about thigh high flood waters. A small boat with two men comes up to us. We were about 9 years old and I think they were National Guard. Anyway, one of the men asks if we remembered exactly where the manholes in the road were. We answered no. He told us that all of the covers had most likely been washed away in the flood but not to worry because it would probably only take them a few days to find our bodies if we were sucked down one of the holes by currents they produced. He spoke in a matter of fact tone and then left.
As an adult, I have zero doubt those two men had a good laugh as they looked back and watched us nope out of that water like two roadrunners in a cartoon.
Edit: It was Fish and Game Wardens. The NG didn't come until later.
Not to mention the crazy injuries that kids somehow are constantly surrounded by.
Had a jogger get hit by a car outside my house once when I was about eight or nine. My nephew came running inside yelling at my parents and my sister to call the ambulance because he was bleeding pretty badly.
I could even see him from our playrooms window and I wondered what he was doing lying on the grass. Turns out he was bleeding out pretty badly, deliriously yelling at my parents when they tried to help.
Eventually, an ambulance came and picked him up, but my parents always told me he made it out okay. The day after, in the spot he was found someone had put a lily in the grass in a vase.
It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out he died from the hit and run.
How sharp were they, though?
A kid f*cking sharpened his fingers with an automatic pencil sharpener at grade 2. Everyone didn't know what was going on until the teacher started freaking out.
I just remembered I tried to stick my finger into electric pencil sharpeners as a kid and disliked how my fingers were too big to fit in it. What the hell was I thinking?
Rock climbing can definitely be dangerous.
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We did climbing in PE (sixth to eight grade). Like rock climbing and we had to do our own harness and stuff. PE teacher (supposedly) checked it after we were done to make sure it was done right. One day my neighbor broke an arm and leg because she wasn't properly strapped and fell.
This was at an international American school in Egypt around year 2000, for all those wondering what type of school does rock climbing.
Kids are, in fact, made of elastic.
We used to jump of our roof. First time hurt a little, but after a few times you learnt how to land.
Did it regularly and would try various items as 'parachutes' to see if it slows you down any.
I look at that height now and wonder how the hell we never broke anything - kids bones are more elastic I guess.
It’s amazing what adults can get away with right under kids’ noses.
A casual hit-and-run.
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My babysitter was running late to take me to piano lessons and rear ended an old man at a stoplight. She told me that he must not have noticed because he didn't get out of his car. I thought nothing of it, and she drove away and took me to my piano lesson.
I forgot about it, and it didn't click until I remembered the incident years later that I had been unknowingly involved in a hit and run.
Big yikes.
Not so much something I saw - but when I was 5 or 6 I was at a family wedding, and there was this really friendly adult guy (who I didn't know) who told me he was really worried about his nice new car in the parking lot and how he wanted to check on the car but didn't want to leave the wedding.
He asked if I could go check on it and he would pay me $5 just to go see if his car was "okay" being that age $5 was a crazy amount of money so I couldn't believe my luck.
On the way to the parking lot, my mom intercepted me and was absolutely horrified, I remember not understanding why, like trying to tell her no she had it wrong he was nice and paying me! And as an adult now I'm like that's so messed up and I wonder how close a call that could have been.
Go grandma!
Until the age of 12 my grandma had custody of me. I used to sleep with her and she slept with a baseball bat next to her bed. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized she did it dads friends wouldn't be able to do anything to me.
Dad was a drug addict and drunk and when he was out of prison he had all kinds of people in and out of the house. You would never know what would be missing the next day - often my Nintendo :(
She did everything she could to protect me from God knows who/what and I had zero clue!
Edit: Damn this blew up while I was sleeping!! Thank you so much to everyone for the support :)
Im adding extra details to help understand the situation.
My grandmother was born in 1914, had a third grade education and was a housewife her entire life. She was already 71 when I was born! My grandpa died when I was 4 and it was just her and I. We lived in a tiny 2 bedroom house in a terrible neighborhood. It was paid off and that's all she could afford. She lived off of the social security death benefits from my grandpa and food banks. She couldn't just "leave" and go anywhere else.
Also, for those suggesting she should have called the cops - cops don't do anything if you say "I'm scared these guys will do something bad" cops have to wait till something bad happens.
She did her very best and raised my right! Now my father is back in prison (shocker) and is pissed at me for not letting the past be in the past and welcoming him with open arms. Meanwhile I'm a 2x college graduate with a great job, my own house and recently married! She definitely did something right. Unfortunately she died when I was 12. Id give anything to be able to tell her how grateful I am to her for doing everything right.
We see some scary stuff as kids. No wonder most of us are so messed up years later. Often these things don’t even register as something terrible- a lot of times, the things we witnessed were just a part of life.
The best we can do is to take our trauma, and learn from it, so we don’t pass it down to our own children. Because kids don’t deserve it- they deserve to have happy childhoods and not think about the horrors of the world.