Dear Dish-It,
I have a crush on my neighbor, and I have ever since he moved in. Sometimes we walk to school together. I want to tell him the truth, but he's a year older than me and I'm afraid he'll think I'm weird and avoid me. What should I do?
Girl Next Door
Dear Girl Next Door,
There's always a risk when you reveal your true feelings. Best case scenario, he'll tell you that he feels the same. Worst case scenario, he'll do exactly what you fear: think you're weird and avoid you. Think about how you'd react if a male friend of yours that you're not attracted to told you that he had feelings for you. Would that put a strain on your friendship? Would you avoid him? If the answer is yes, maybe it's best to keep your feelings to yourself for now, at least until you pick up on some mutual signals from your crush.
Signals
Does your crush smile when you're around? Tease you? Act playful? Does he seem nervous around you? All those things could be signs that he feels the same way. But if he ever says things like "you're like a sister to me" or ditches you for a pretty girl, I'd say your feelings are one-sided.
Hang Out
Why don't you ask him to hang out? That will allow you to spend time with him beyond just walking to school, and give you more opportunities to read his feelings. And you never know, maybe you'll hang out and realize that you don't like him after all. Asking him to hang out is your best way to get to know him better. If you don't click, then no worries. You won't have said anything that will make him look at you differently, for better or for worse. And you can go back to just being walking to school buddies.
Have Your Say
Do you have advice for Girl Next Door? Tell us in our comment section below!
