Having a Friend Crush Is So Awkward

No one really talks about how weird it is to have a friend crush. Not a romantic crush, not “I’m in love with you,” just… “I think you’re so cool and I want you in my life but I don’t know how to say that without sounding unhinged.” You hang out with someone once or twice and suddenly you’re like, “Oh. I actually want you around. A lot.” And then you immediately feel embarrassed, because why does liking someone as a friend feel so dramatic?The worst part is how you start overthinking literally everything. You’ll send them a TikTok and then stare at your phone like you just confessed something huge. You’ll see them in person and try so hard to be normal, but inside you’re like, “please think I’m funny, please think I’m normal, please don’t notice how much I care. And there’s no script for this. If it were a romantic crush, people would at least understand why you’re spiraling. But when you just really want someone as a friend, you sound ridiculous trying to explain it. Like, “no, I’m not in love with them… I just want to hang out with them constantly and tell them everything and match energies like we’re in the same brain.” Friend crushes make you feel 14 again. You start replaying conversations, wondering if you came off too much, or too quiet, or too something. Meanwhile the other person is probably not thinking that hard at all. But when you find a friend who feels easy to be around, it hits different. It’s rare. You don’t want to mess it up or look weird, even though wanting a friend is the least weird thing ever. Honestly, the whole thing would be so much simpler if we could just tell people, “Hey, I like you. As a friend. You’re cool.” But we don’t do that.