by Siobhan Miller

From secret glances across the room to passing notes in class, grade school crushes make for the best stories. The secret knowledge that when he pulls your hair he really likes you and when he says “gross” at the mention of your name it’s only because he’s in denial is enough to make you giddy. However, pre-teen love is more complicated than it’s childish exterior.

Step 1: The revelation.

After majorly crushing on her best friends boyfriend for the majority of fifth grade, senior Dana Bailey bravely decided to act.

“During recess, when he went outside, I ran inside his homeroom and put a stuffed teddy bear that said, ‘I like you’ and a box of chocolates on his desk,” Bailey said.

After dropping off the bear, Bailey sprinted out of the room, hoping to have escaped unseen. Despite her stealth, she was caught and naturally the entire fifth grade class was informed immediately.

“My crush thought I was weird and my bestie thought I was a man stealer,” Bailey said.

Although brave actions of love may feel like a good decision at the time, crush revelations tend to turn into disaster. From secret “I like you” notes to face to face confrontations, telling someone you’re crushing on them is a big risk.

Step 2: The response.

“In fifth grade a boy gave me a fake rose and chocolates and it was really awkward,” Lee said.

Junior Katie Crow agrees that acting out on a grade school crush tends to end in disappointment, especially with someone out of your league. In grade school, the boys in Crow’s class cooperated to impress a “really attractive” substitute teacher they had on Valentine’s Day for spanish class.

“My friend Jonathan got up in front of the whole class and handed her a valentine. The teacher was really flustered and didn’t know what to do. She thought it was a joke, but she started laughing at the whole situation and kinda totally rejected him and the whole class started laughing,” Crow said.

Step 3: The aftermath.

Whether your grade school crush ends in fatality or fling, there’s no denying it was memorable. Despite the flaws of crush’s past, we’ve all learned our lesson and can now look back and laugh on our grade school relationships.