When I was 10 years old, a boy in my class asked me out. I’d had a crush on him for a while, but I was fat and ugly, my hair was greasy too. I didn’t think anyone could ever like me. His name was Danny. He was cute and funny and kind and his smile made me feel warm like a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows on a cold winters day. I said yes.

I was so happy I told all of my friends, Hannah gave me a HUGE hug, and Darcey jumped with joy. When I told Lizzie that I think he really did like me for me, she said “you’d have to be an absolute fool the believe that!”. That made me sad, but I shook it off as jealousy. Me and Danny spent all of break together in the playground, talking and playing ‘tag’. At lunchtime we sat and ate together too! I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have a boyfriend like him. When it was home time, we walked to the gate with each other and went our separate ways. He didn’t hug me goodbye, and it made me feel like maybe he was having second thoughts. Maybe he’d realised what he’d done. Did he not want to be with someone like me? Someone chubby? Someone ugly? The next thing I know I’m being hugged from behind. He’d ran back after me to give me a hug!

I had a smile beaming from ear to ear all the way home. I couldn’t believe that he wanted ME. When I got to my grandmas house, I decided to tell her about Danny. I told her how he asked me out just after a science class about the heart, and how we shared lollipops at break and crisps at lunch. “He really likes me!” I said, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. “You’d have to be an absolute fool to believe that! Have you seen what you look like?” she groaned.

The next day at school, I told Danny I didn’t want to be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. I said “I don’t know why you’d want to be with me. I don’t know if it’s a joke, but I don’t want to be part of it”. We never spoke again after that. I still don’t know why he ever wanted to be with me, and I’m not sure I ever will.