Trust me when I say, “I do not get embarrassed.” My cheeks do not become flushed. My heart does not race. If I trip up the stairs, I just laugh and walk it off. If I stutter over my words, no biggie, just laugh it off yet again. I remember that day as if it was just nine days and fifty-three minutes ago. Friday, December 28, 2012. Fifth hour on the final day of GOFA. Student government members were excused from all classes, so we could round up more money, count money, and prepare for the final pep fest. My buddy Adam and I were given the task off pushing a cart, filled with candy canes, cupcakes, and t-shirts, around the lunchroom. This cart was not exactly miniscule. It took some work to maneuver it around.

Before I get to the climax of the story, I must give some background information about my upper-classman crush. He is currently a junior and goes by the name of Jake. I have had this crush since the first day of school. He sat in front of me during the Link Crew pep fest, accidently bumped into my leg, and apologized. Since then, I have had an imaginary relationship with him. Much to excitement, I was able to gaze at him every Tuesday during Key Club.

As Adam and I were making sales, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Jake happened to be in this lunch hour. I made a sad attempt of trying not to hyperventilate. Soon, we were at the table next to his, selling our friends the striped candy. As I started to push the cart again, I noticed the bucket of candy canes were teetering off the edge. It felt as if it was in slow motion. I was debating whether to leap and try to catch the bucket, but it was too late. The tin can went crashing to the ground, and everybody in the lunchroom whipped their heads around to stare, including a certain junior right next to me. I attacked the candy, trying to shove them back into the can as fast as I could. My face was bright red, and this was one occasion I was not going to be able to laugh off. I could feel my heart pounding like the hooves on a racing horse. Adam zoomed over and helped in collecting the now broken products. Suddenly, Jake knelt down helped us gather the candy canes. I could feel my cheeks searing. I tried to think of something to say, like, “Thank you,” or “Want a candy cane?” Too bad I am not a smooth talker under stressful conditions. I managed to stutter out, “Do you want to buy some broken candy canes?” Adam then nagged me saying I should not ask him to pay since he helped us out. I did not think it was humanly possible to turn even redder. It seemed as if I was doing all sorts of new things on that Friday. After the candy had been collected, Jake continued eating his lunch, and I walked out feeling like an idiot.

My face never returned to a normal shade that day. It stayed like a red tomato. Of course, when an embarrassing thing happens to me, I over-analyze it, especially when it relates to my crush. I spent the next hours just replaying that scene over and over, hoping that he would not remember as the “candy cane girl”.