First Crush

I used to be boy crazy, and I started pretty young. I had a boyfriend in kindergarten, but I never actually liked him so we broke up, then he got a new girlfriend, which made me jealous, so I told him to break up with her, but then I actually didn’t want him back. I was a real stinker.

But my first crush was in elementary school, in probably fourth grade, when I noticed a boy named Joe Fox. Joe Fox wasn’t handsome at all, but he was tall and he was the smartest boy in our grade. Smarter than everyone, even one of my best friends, Lorinda, who was a genius, or so I thought.

On Valentine’s Day, I received a valentine from him. And it was signed, Joe B. Fox. I couldn’t believe it! He loved me too! I kept the Valentine and cherished it all through that year. It was toward the end of the fourth grade that my girlfriends told me that they had all received a Valentine from Joe Fox as well. One of my girlfriends said that she knew for a fact that his mother had signed all the Valentines and made sure that everyone in class received one. It had not occurred to me prior to that, that although I had received a valentine, he never treated me any differently. In fact, he never acted like he cared about any particular girl, he was a typical fourth grade boy, just not as weird as most.

When my dad asked me if I liked a boy at school, I told him, yes. Then, my dad asked me if the boy was smart. I said yes, the smartest boy in my grade. I noticed that my father smiled with pride.

I kept crushing on Joe through early Middle School, and I went to school with him all the way through 12th grade. But I was not his cup of tea, and nothing ever occurred between the two of us. It didn’t help that I was always too afraid to talk to him. I spoke to his mother once several years after graduation, and she said he became a doctor. He really was very, very smart and I loved that about him.