To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To my Second Grade Crush

1. To my Second Grade Crush

I hated going to school ever since it started.
I've decided the snacks and the new notebooks and pens were the only things I found exciting.
I would always cry when they'd take me because it felt like a battlefield and I was too afraid of being a casualty of embarrassment - something like me falling on my face or failing a simple math test.
But when I reached the second grade, I hated it less because you were there.
You were the first boy I ever really loved, according to 7 year old me.
I took whatever it was I knew about that word and called it that.
You were the one that made my face as red as a tomato whenever you talked to me.
Why? Let me count the ways.
You had the chinkiest eyes I've ever seen,
you were ridiculously charming
with your hair, never really in place
but I'd like to say they were all in their right places,
and skin, so moreno like the mocha cupcakes my mom used to put in my lunch box.
Your name intricately crafted like the Sistine Chapel -
and your voice,
gee whiz,
was out of this world.
You set the bar really high for a girl's first crush.
The first time I met you it was like "Stomach, meet butterflies."
I don't know if you were aware I had a crush on you but I think you did.
But it never really mattered because you were in love with someone from the room next to ours.
She was a real angel with her long hair and fair skin.
Her smile could make the flowers bloom.
Her bag was one of those that had wheels with so many secret pockets
and I swore her crayons had like 124 colors.
To sum it up, she was surreal and I was a potato.
Potatoes can be interesting you know if they turn into fries and I would've loved to talk you into liking them at the time but you would shun me away for all I know.
I was too young to know but I could tell you were in love with her.
Unlucky but then I thought to myself, I never really had a shot to begin with.
I was just some girl from the front row you didn't even notice much.
Through the years, I still smile when I remember you.
How long do crushes even last?
I guess if I could tell you one thing it would be
thank you for existing.
Your daughter has your eyes.
She's really pretty.