Back to Reality... Sorta.

[Disclaimer: the following content might not be suitable for all genders. Gents be warned. Due to this, Snowl has requested I look over this to make it more palatable for my fellow males. -Orville.]

*poof!*

And like that the happy world of writers and dreamers was over. Or separated, at least. Ways parted, vans puttered, and Dr. Nelson missed our last exit on the way home, adding an extra 20 minutes to our 14 hour drive. But at least we made it safe and sound.

Now our happy group has returned to the dreary world of exams and final papers and presentations. But I don't want to whine about that, so let's move on, shall we? [What's she whining about? I'm the one smelling like stale hair from people smushing me with their heavy skulls like a pillow...]

There's something more pressing tickling my mind, one of those things people only whisper about with good friends behind closed doors or in isolated booths over coffee. It's one of the most annoying yet thrilling diseases, consuming yet irrelevant, distracting yet oblique. They sneak up on you like gum on the sidewalk, until you're stuck with it everywhere you go, each step an annoyingly sticky reminder of your latest inconvenience. I'm speaking of crushes, of course. Why is it our insides suddenly decide without consent to get all gooey over some guy or girl? [In Snowl's case it would be guys, just to clarify.] These things tend to sneak up when least practical, like at the end of summer when heading back to school or the end of school when heading home for summer, or even when you're getting ready to graduate and don't even have the hope to pick up the next semester/summer when you get back. You know there's no point to act on it, but it plagues you anyway. Why must this happen??

I have successfully evaded this deadly disease for a considerable block of time. It's not hard to do when you purposefully cut yourself off from most human contact, especially from friendships of the opposite gender. [Poor kid's kinda a hermit. PLEASE drag her out of my room more often.] And it's never the studly peacocks prancing around campus that spawn this mental illness--the ones girls fawn over when they've nothing better to do--it's the ones you aren't watching for that sneak up on you. My downfall is a tendency to become too attached to good guy friends. This is normally countered by distance; out of sight, out of mind. Or time. When you're friends with a guy [or girl, for any guys who stumble across this] for long enough, you tend to slip into that safe brotherly/sisterly relationship. Yet every now and then circumstance thrusts one out of the comfort of normalcy and suddenly you find yourself thinking of a certain someone's smile when you should be listening to Dr. Knowall's droning speech, or perhaps you're hearing their words in your head when you should be reading about molecular biology. [A topic Snowl is completely ignorant on.] It's like some small parasite wiggled into your brain and despite your best efforts refuses to unlatch from your conscious. Then you actually see said crush and your heart gets all fluttery warm and you're sure they can see it in your face but despite everything you're fighting to maintain control and "play it cool" because you fear their reaction if they knew... 


The term "love sick" comes to mind. I'm not sure love is the appropriate term for this affection, but sick could not be better stated. If only some remedy were known to cure this ridiculous distraction. Goodness knows that's normally all it is. [Thank you for sharing with us. Now for your own sake, Snowl, get back to your homework.] ... Fine.