I have recently reconnected with an old friend. We first met as children in the second grade. I was a tomboy so, I always had guy friends as a little girl. He and I had the same class, sat near each other and, naturally, hung out at recess together with a few other guys almost everyday. Of course, my young heart developed a crush.

Fast forward a few years to being a boy crazy prepubescent middle schooler that developed social anxiety somewhere in between. I couldn’t bring myself to talk and be cool like we once were. To make matters worse he moved away for a few years. I moved on, or so I thought.High school comes around and I see a somewhat familiar face. Of course, its my crush! My teacher at the time had a seating chart prepared. Low and behold we are sat right next to each other. Unfortunately I couldn’t bring myself to even look at him. I was nervous everyday; I never once said anything to him.

Now, as twenty-one year olds, we began messaging each other and catching up, (while never addressing or acknowledging our awkward middle years.) We started out with casual hello’s and gradually began talking more and more. The point is, I can’t tell if he is just being really nice because I am a person from his past, or if we started talking again because there is an interest there. He invited me to hang out with him and his friends “next time they have a kick back” but lord knows if that is just what guys say to make you feel special. He keeps asking when I work and when I’m normally available, and dropping extremely subtle hints he will ” be in my city”. There is a part of me that really wants to just ask him to hang out but I don’t want to be rejected or have false hopes. I am very naive when it comes to boys and romance but I just need to know from an outside perspective. HELP ME PLEASE!