the boyfriend list.
2.
Daniel was my pre-school crush.
He had chocolatey brown eyes and hair to match. Back then, I
was just one of the guys. I always left my hair unbrushed and
wore paint-covered overalls. I went by Crys, shorter than
Crystal and more masculine, too. We'd play dinosaurs
together, stampeding around and knocking down Michelle
O'Reary's block castle, which she built the same way
every day. Daniel and I like to switch things up; dinosaurs one
day, and poorly finger-painted fruits the next.
My crush on Daniel didn't last long, though.
One day, I heard him with his friend, Dex (short for Dexter,
who was a girl) talking about me.
"Crys is such a loser!" The loser sounded
more like 'wooser' because he had lost his
front teeth in a basketball accident, but I knew what he meant.
I ran to Ms. Wood and began to cry. Later that day, at nap
time, I told Daniel I hated him—I had no idea what hate
was; I had heard the word when my parents were arguing one
night—before proceeding to my mat beside him.
Daniel was the first boy I'd ever had a crush on, but he
wouldn't be the last.
the boyfriend list.
1.
Mia, it's Mommy. Right now, you're five years old with
big blue eyes and curly brown hair. This morning, you asked me
to tell you about your father and why he's not around. I
told you I'd tell you when you're older. Well, by the
time you read this, you will be older. But until then, I'm
going to be writing in the journal, telling you about all the
boyfriends, heartbreaks, laughs, crushes, and boys I've had
in my life. Hopefully you'll be able to recognize your
father before I tell you who he is. Hopefully you'll read
the whole thing and realize that life and relationships
isn't all that it's cracked up to be through my stories
instead of skipping to the end in hopes of finally learning the
name of your father. Hopefully you'll smile and cry and
laugh like I did and finally understand why I couldn't tell
you at that delicate age of five. I call this 'The
Boyfriend List'. Hang on to your hat—it's just an
expression. You and I both know you look goofy in a
hat!—Mia! It's gonna be a bumpy ride.