"Dear high school crush, I am writing this to convey the feelings that have been opened after being shut for a long time.." Well, that's how I would intend to begin writing about my feelings I had for someone in high school. But the reality is, the feelings were never shut, more so restricted and contained in a jar..

It all brings me back to a foggy day in my high school gym, where I would see my crush playing basketball. Little did I know that those feelings would last for a while. It's already summer of 2021 and I have never gotten to a point where I was able to forget about him and those moments where I would see him in school.

If I were to tell someone who was trying to move on from a crush that they have held inside their heart since high school, I would tell them that it is best to pretend like it never happened. Now this is just a rehearsal... That the "crush" was never there. Nonexistent. But I have learned the hard way that these feelings do hold on if they are not confronted and might even come in the way of your being able to enjoy vaxxed girl summer after a year of confinement from a national pandemic.

I would often compare my experiences dealing with my feelings for this crush I have had since high school as dandelion petals. They are soft and feel nice to the touch, but they are also irritating and easy to have an urge to blow away on. That is exactly how I would describe these feelings that I have had for a very long time. Now, these feelings are not a matter of stalking the person and trying to find what they are doing now and how they are doing. They become a matter of a revelation. And that revelation requires the "dandelion petals" to be blown away into the air.

Unfortunately, I have very bad allergies, as do many people, when it comes to flowers. Don't get me wrong, I love flowers and would dedicate a whole shrine to them, but they are also something that can bring memories, either good or bad. Well, for me these "flowers" remind me of more bad than good.

If we were doing a "Take Two" on the question, "If I were to tell someone who was trying to move on from a crush that they have held inside their heart since high school, something.." I would say that there will always be a dress rehearsal, until you find the right words to say to your crush if you ever see them again. That no matter how many times we put on a masquerade or try on different masks, that the feelings will still be there inside. That it isn't about the feelings that we "paint," it's about the "dandelion petals" that won't blow away by themselves.

Legend has it that if you can blow all the seeds off a dandelion with a single breath, then the person you love will love you back.