There was a girl in my friend group in high school. It became clear at a certain point that she had developed a crush on me. Not realizing its magnitude, and also not desirous of a romantic relationship with her, I feigned ignorance. I feigned ignorance much longer than I should have, until a mutual friend called me out publicly for "being mean to her". As if the blame for the subject never explicitly coming up in conversation lay solely at my feet. Okay, whatever.

Honestly, she was a pretty cool person aside from that tension. But it never would have worked out between us. I like to think that healthy human beings are just naturally beautiful, or close enough to get the job done. And most of them are.

But not her.

It has been several years since we graduated and went our separate ways. According to Facebook, she is now happily married and raising a bright, energetic child. And she has somehow become even uglier than she used to be.

vc:hag