Love is one of those topics people act as if they understand, but the more you 

Think about it, the more complicated it gets. I picked it because it shows up in almost 

everything we do, even when we don’t notice it at first. Sometimes it looks huge and 

obvious, like someone running across an airport in a movie, but most of the time it’s way 

Smaller someone saving you  the last slice of pizza or texting you good luck before a 

test. I learned that love can make you feel brave one minute and completely unsure the 

next, and that mix is what makes it interesting. It’s not always perfect or easy, and 

Honestly, that’s part of why I wanted to write about it; the flaws make it real. Love pushes people 

to become better versions of themselves, even if  it takes time and a few mistakes along the way. 

When you think about it, a lot of the  choices we make—who we trust, what we care about, what 

we hold onto the kind of love we’ve experienced. That’s why the topic matters to me: 

writing about  love feels like writing about what it means to really feel something, even if you 

can’t fully explain it.My first girlfriend came to me in a far less dramatic manner than most 

people I think it happens for everyone. We just sat together at a lunch table when she looked 

over my shoulder and said,

 “You’re actually really good at that.” And then I think I said 

something like, 

“Thanks, I just do it for something to do when I’m bored.” After that, we 

just started talking every day about what was going on in school, and some stupid 

things we didn’t like, and everything just seemed really easy. One day,when we were 

headed for class, my girlfriend stopped and said, “So… Do you like me or something?”

And for a second, I just stood there frozen until I said, “Yeah, I do.” Though my stomach 

was literally racing with my pounding heart, when I said it, my girlfriend just smiled and 

said, “Good, because I kind of hoped you would.” It wasn’t until after that that most 

people started considering her my girlfriend, but after that, it seemed like everyone just 

kind of knew anyway. It wasn’t really something monumental, but it seemed significant 

to me, as it was The first time I truly saw just how big a difference a few honest words 

could make.A few weeks passed, and I started to notice that everything seemed 

different, and I knew something was on the horizon. I was sitting on the bleachers after 

school with her when she said, 

“I’ve been thinking a lot about things lately,” and I knew immediately that I wasn’t going to like what came next. I said,

 “About what?” and she looked down at her feet and said, 

“I just want to focus on school more right now.” 

I remember nodding and saying,

“Yeah, I understand that,” even though it stung a bit. 

She said, 

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” and I guess that stung weirdly, too. It seemed 

like she was trying to break up with me, but didn’t want me to think less of her. 

We stood there in silence for a minute before she said, “It’s okay if we don’t go out 

anymore; I kind do you think we can still be friends?” I said back to her, “Yeah, I’d like 

that.” It wasn’t until I was walking home that I realized that was actually the first time I’d ever experienced what it’s like 

when you like someone but don’t get what you want. It wasn’t a terrible breakup by any stretch 

of the imagination,but it taught me that sometimes people pick what’s best for them.

Then, after that, I just couldn't really do anything like normal because my heart just felt broken 

all the time. At school, in class, I'd stare at my paper and realize that I hadn't written a word. My 

friends would joke around, and I'd laugh a second too late, like I was pretending to be okay 

instead of actually being okay. And things I liked, such as drawing or playing games, just didn't 

seem to feel the same way anymore. At night, I would continuously replay it in my head, thinking 

of what I could have said differently. I didn't know heartbreak could be that heavy, especially in 

middle school, but it was. But it was confusing, too, because a part of me knew that life would 

keep going, but another part of me, like, didn't believe it yet. And that's the first time I realized 

emotions can make your mind so weird, even when nothing else around you changes.