At times, she was furious.

.

At times, she was annoyed.

.

Always, she was flattered.

.

.

Pearson was a nuisance.

.

At his best he was a thorn in her side, at his worst he was her stand-by defense for nuclear annihilation.

.

.

At the sight of his approach, she was flooded by a forceful wave of hatred, disgust, and warmth at the thought of the attention that was yet to come.

.

.

She didn't like him the slightest bit.

.

That wasn't even up for discussion.

.

But—much to her chagrin—she did like the attention.

.

.

There was something about being the object of someone's crush that made a person feel special, feel appreciated, and did wonders for their self esteem.

.

Skye Penderwick was no different.

.

.

Because even though he was a bore, even though he was annoying and disgusting and infuriating and humiliating, he was also something else.

.

He was the first boy to notice her as a girl, and the only one brave enough to—repeatedly—make his emotions known.

.

.

And she was flattered.


Come on, girls. Be honest. As much as being someone's crush is akward and embarassing, it feels pretty nice to be noticed, right? And even if that guy is someone like Pearson, well, that feeling doesn't really change... :-)