To Whom My Heart Belongs To [original]

Twelve

To someone I loved,

A little boy told me there was a girl he liked. I gave him a smile and asked what was special about her. He told me that she always wore her hair in two braids and had a smile that never faded. That's when it hit me hard.

I remembered the girl you liked. When she was that little boy's age, she also wore her hair and braids and never stopped smiling. In my mind, the girl the little boy liked was also the girl you used to like. Why is it that girls like her always have the boys crushing on them? Do any other girls ever get the chance at love or at least a crush?

It broke me. It shattered my heart. Everything holding me together simply collapsed. All barriers holding back my emotions burst. No, everything did break, but I was stronger than that to reveal the pain. I concealed all of it so no one would ever see. That's the type of person I was.

Then the boy asked me if I ever liked someone. My answer was hesitant, but eventually, I answered yes. He asked how he should handle this feeling of having a crush. If I had been honest, I would've given him the answer I should've told myself a long time ago.

If he wanted the completely truthful answer, I would've told him he had two choices. The first would be to go directly tell the person who caught his attention and tell her how he felt. It would be over quickly and a new door could be opened. The second option would be to let this crush stay in your mind and torture you everyday that passes. All the questions will fill your head following the lines of "what if I..." or "what would've happened..." and it will bother you each day. There would be a pounding in your head that won't let you sleep. This person will be on your mind during the times you don't want them to be in your head. And every way you turn, there will be something that reminds you of your crush. If option two is taken, you have to live with that torture until you learn to move on or decide to turn to option one.

But I took a chance on this kid. I gave him the answer he would rather hear. A smile appeared on his face as he told me with confidence that he would tell her the next day. His little legs carried him away as he called out a thank you. It made me happy to see someone so young to be inspired to take a leap of faith when they truly don't know anything at all. In a matter of time, that little boy will realize not everything in the world works the way we want it to.

With love,

someone who took the second option