The Crush: Patty's Delimma

Big Closet Top Shelf
2016 The Crush Contest Winner.

Patty isn't like other girls. All her friends at school are into the jocks, the BMOCs of the school. Not her. As a matter-of-fact, she isn't sure she's in to guys at all. She couldn’t see herself doing all the things that lesbians do with each other, but when her friends talk about what they want to do with the guys they want to be with, she couldn’t see herself with one of their heartthrobs doing that kind of stuff either. It’s then, while they’re extolling the virtues the manly men they’re crushing on that she wonders if she's a lesbian.

Her friend Susie's all hot for James Crenshaw. James is a 6’ 3”, 250 pound football linebacker. Of course, Susie’s only crushing on him. James is a BMOC (big man on campus) and Susie’s just Susie. She’s kind of like Patty; a mousey girl with ordinary looks, an ordinary body and ordinary personality, only just a little more outgoing than Patty. She talks all the time about how she could set something up so that James would notice her and how that would lead to them finding a dark place to “get to know” each other. Patty thinks she’s crazy. If he did notice her and they did find that dark place, she’s gives every indication, without saying it right out, that she’d do the big one, just to keep him coming back. Eewww.

Not Patty, She’d rather hangout with the girls. She’d rather kiss Susie, than James. If she wanted to find a boy to take to a dark place it’d be Blake Henderson. Blake’s a nerd, pocket protector and all. He belongs to the chess club, the drama club and he’s president of the science club. Why would she pick Blake? He’s everything the jocks aren’t. He’s quiet, unassuming, polite and shy. Come to think of it, he’s a lot more like Patty than one of them. If he was just a girl, they’d be best friends. She doesn’t really have a best friend because, as you can probably guess, she doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the girls.

She wonders maybe she should get brave and pursue a friendship with Blake. But she's really not up to making the first move to have any kind of relationship with a guy… if he were a girl, maybe. No pressure there and then, she could explore this idea that maybe she's a lesbian.

All this was going through her mind as she walked to school on a Friday morning. Then, she saw Blake. She stopped to watch him as he climbed the steps into school. His cute little tush swaying back and forth with each step up; his long hair swishing across his back all combined to scream “Notice me,” me in his nerdy way. she knew his long hair was an attempt to be cool, but he was a generation behind the times. Guys in her father’s age group grew long hair to be cool. Now, it isn’t even a retro style. It just serves to let everyone know just how far out of step Blake is, but she doesn’t care. Yeah, if she was going to do the big one with anyone, it’d be Blake. If only she could figure a way to get to know him. She doesn’t play chess, she doesn’t have a clue when it comes to science and she sure couldn’t act enough to do anything in drama

It was Friday and there was a quiz in last period Science. Patty didn’t do well. Her teacher informed her she needed to get it together and pass the midterm. If she didn’t, she had no hope of passing the course. He recommended a tutor. A boy from his advanced class. Patty wasn’t thrilled she’d have to admit to some else she was a science dunce, much less a boy. But it was that or summer school. She put the folded paper with his name and number in with her books.

As she unloaded her backpack the paper her teacher gave her came out and fell on the floor. It flopped open as she picked it up.

Blake Henderson
2215 NW Blanton
503-641-7749