"I am not the sappy, romantic type," wrote "Abigail," Windsor, ID as the first line of "Middle School Crush." This piece of writing is about what having a crush as a young teenager feels like. The author goes into detail about how they are not a romantic, and not a fan of the feeling you get when you have a crush, especially in middle school. The writer describes the process of your first conversation with your crush to whether or not they like you. Then, the writer cleverly describes how a middle school date could go. Upon reading this piece, I found that I really enjoyed the type of story that the author told. I loved that the piece sounded conversational at some points, then took on a more formal style, but ended with the conversational form again.
          My favorite line in the piece would have to be, "Having a crush feels like Valentine's Day has thrown up all over you." I love how it perfectly conveys to the reader that the author is not the romantic type, in a quirky and creative way. The line brings up a laugh while the reader is understanding the author's perspective. Another excellent part in this piece is towards the end, where the writer inserts a short paragraph with statistics. The writer describes how studies show that relationships at a young age like 12 or 13 lead to, "more lying and cheating...than those who started at 15 or 16," according to the research mentioned by the author gathered from York University in Toronto. In addition, I absolutely love the ending to the piece. The author ends with the lines, "Until then, I will focus on what's important: being a kid, doing well in school, and- Wait, who's that? Is he new? He's kinda cute. Oh no. Here we go again." I find this the perfect ending to a piece like this because after proving the point, the writer adds a creative and funny twist, which shows that either way, you cannot just make feelings disappear. Overall, I loved "Middle School Crush." As a teenager, it is relatable and an interesting piece to read because you can understand the many different perspectives there are on having a crush.