There was a girl. And this girl didn’t understand the world.

She didn’t understand her heart and her mind and why they always took different sides. Why they were always fighting.

And there was this boy. And she didn’t understand him.

She could read his face like a book. A book she’s read many times. Her favorite novel. She knew his moods and his eyes. Those deep brown eyes that could make her lose her train of th—

She thought she knew him.

But just like the world that liked to play tricks on you like raining in December and snowing in March, this boy could trick her. He was like a magician; he always had tricks up his sleeves. But she hated magicians. She likes to know how the trick happens; she doesn’t like to be in the dark.

She would also very much like it if he turned the light on.

But no, girls can never make sense of their lives. One minute they love a guy and wish for anything to be with him, the next they wonder if he’s worth waiting for.

Then, when that boy finally likes her—a dream come true, right? That’s what the heart thinks. But the brain questions if he deserves her. Questioning. Girls’ brains are always questioning their hearts.

So many songs tell us girls to listen to our hearts, but if she did that she would’ve gotten married in kindergarten under that blue slide with a boy who offered her a wild flower in replace of a ring. At the time, her heart was thinking it was a great idea, she was cute. He was cute. They would be cute together. But all he had was a flower for her, and they had never even talked before. How could they be married without talking? So, her brain said no and she said no. She took the flower and walked away.

How does that have to do with the topic on hand? A lot, actually. Each boy that has come into her life has offered her something. It started with a flower, and grew into deeper gifts like love…or lust.

But she’s tired of the guy who can only give her a kiss. Although it is an electrifying kiss that shoots ice down her veins and gives her shivers, it is a kiss. She wants conversation. She wants holding hands and exchanging awkward smiles, she wants notes passed to her in the hallway. She wants eyes that take her to another world.

But isn’t that what that boy does?

After all, he does like this girl. And she does like him. So why don’t the puzzle pieces fit together in her brain? Her heart is flying, but her brain is still standing firmly on the ground.

And this boy is confused.

He can never understand girls. He knows this girl has liked him since sixth grade. He knows she gets lost in his eyes and feels lightning shoot through her veins when he smiles.

He knows his timing is a little late.

But he knows that he likes her.

She asked him why, once, in conversation.

And he didn’t know why, he just knows that he does.

And he likes it. He likes her. And she likes him.

But they don’t want to date because they’re graduating in June, and that would be silly.

But she has been waiting six years for him.

And he likes her.

And she can’t understand why girls’ brains make life so difficult.

And he can’t understand girls.