Should You Cross the Crush Line?

There comes an inevitable moment when you must decide—do you act on your crush, or just leave it in your imagination?

The upside of confessing is finally finding out if he/she shares your feelings. The downside is finding out why they call them crushes when your heart gets totally pulverized. It’s a gamble either way. So do you continue to pine in secret, or do you confess your love? Let's look at each type of crush before we decide.

Type 1, The Invisible Crush: You know every detail about this crush. How she likes to cut the crust off her sandwiches. How her favorite thing to wear is an old AC/DC concert shirt. How her nose wrinkles a little bit when she thinks something is really, really funny. Here’s the problem—you’ve never talked to your crush, and she doesn’t know you exist.

Crush or Confess?: Does she really not know you exist? Like, if you threw a rock at her head, she wouldn’t feel it? If so, this person, like a mannequin, is for display purposes only. Your goal right now should be to establish an actual talking relationship with her.

Type 2, The Delusional Crush: "Like OMG, in Science, I dropped my pencil, and he picked it up, and then I said thanks, and our hands totally touched! He totally loves me."

Crush or Confess?: Slow down, partner. Grazing hands is romantic and all, but don’t go signing up for the wedding registry just yet. It can be hard to distinguish between politeness and flirtation; before you drop the L word, hit up Auntie Sparknote’s flirting tips to see what your interactions with your crush actually mean.

Type 3, The Casual Crush: This is someone you actually talk to, and maybe even are friends with. You guys might have hung out in group settings, or maybe you make sure to sit next to each other in study hall every day. Either way, everyone suspects there’s something going on with you two.

Crush or Confess?: CONFESS, for the love of God, confess! What are you doing here reading this?? Go tell him now! Spare us all the tension and start dating already!

Type 4, The Evil Crush: "Jimmy Durand is so stupid! He’s like the stupidest dude in our class! I hate his stupid eyes, and his stupid smile, and the stupid way he sort of flips his beautiful brown hair and the sunlight hits it and then you can hear birds singing and… ummm, yeah, I totally hate him."

Crush or Confess?: Looks like someone needs to resolve some crush issues before she can move forward with confessing love. Of course we’re all familiar with the first grade-style “I love you so I’m going to torture you and make you cry until you’re mine” method of dating, but as I’m sure you remember, 10 times out of 10 it never works. Best to accept the fact that you like this person and start acting nice, instead of knocking his books off his desk and yelling, “I like you, jerk!”

Have you ever confessed when you shouldn't have?

Related post: Auntie SparkNotes: How to Flirt, For Everyone!