J. Aaron Duane

Escaping the Friend Zone

There was a time in my life when I was just like you. I wanted to be more than a friend to the girl of my dreams. Every time I saw her, I felt my heart race, and it got harder to breathe. Seriously, it was something out of a movie: I was the short, nerdy, pudgy kid taking honors classes and she was the gorgeous, affable, popular girl next door that everybody loved. Think Steve Urkel and Laura Winslow. Doug Funnie and Patti Mayonnaise. Now maybe I’m a little biased, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only guy that had a crush on her; there were taller dudes, guys that weren’t taking the bus to school every day like me. Guys with their own cars and better clothes than me, bigger muscles and better personalities. The whole time I felt that she was out of my league. Even though I had no reason to believe that I would ever have a shot with her, I still thought it was possible because I had a secret weapon; I thought I had a chance because I was her friend. I figured if I just tried to be the best friend I could be, she would eventually come to appreciate me and decide to give me a chance.