Falling in Love at 13

If someone told me they fell in love at 13, I would never believe them. “You’re not in love you just like them,” or “you just think he’s cute. You’re too young for love.” Trust me, I get it. But when I was 13-years-old, I was in love.

I met him in middle school. He was one of those kids that tried to sag his pants and wore flatbill hats and socks in bright Neon colors all the way up to his knees. At that time, I barely knew him and didn’t have any interest in dating him. In fact if you asked me to name someone I could never see myself with, his name would have been one of the first out of my mouth. He had this reputation of a “bad boy,” but now looking back—it’s hard to imagine what a middle schooler could do to earn that title. Regardless, I never imagined he would be my first love.

In the middle of 7th grade, he told everyone he was moving. I had barely talked to him at this point, but I was still a little sad he was leaving. He left and went to a different school and we went a long time without talking or seeing each other again. Now remember, in the early to mid 2000s giving “TBH’s” was a big popular thing. For those of you who don’t know what a TBH is, it stands for “to be honest.” Someone would post a picture on Instagram with the caption “like for a tbh.” People would like the post and the person who posted it would send them a message with their honest opinion about them. Why we all did this is beyond me. Anyway, he posted a TBH picture one day. Of course me being a middle school girl who cared about the opinion of everyone around her, I liked it. I received a TBH that was just a normal, expected opinion. “You’re a cool person and you’re pretty.” Big whoop.

A few days later he posted another TBH picture, and again I liked it. This time the TBH was a little sweeter. “You’re really cool and funny and you’re really cute.” Okay, now I liked this one much more. I replied with a heart and a thank you, just like always. He got to the point where he would post these pictures for a TBH almost everyday. I liked them every time until one day he gave me a TBH that ended in something different. “I think you’re beautiful, and you should text me.” I know I know, not the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard, but to a 13-year-old girl in the mid 2000s, that was incredible. So of course, I texted him. We talked for hours and hours, with only seconds in between each reply. I went to bed with a huge smile on my face, and woke up with phone in hand to text him again.

We communicated hours a day, every day. I already felt like I liked him so much, just after two or three weeks. One night a few months into talking, something clicked. We were talking about everything we could think of. I asked him what was the most important thing to him. (I was a deep 13 year old, ok?) His answer was family. I got butterflies in my stomach and my hands got clammy. I quickly grabbed my phone and called my best friend at the time and waited there with a huge smile on my phone for what seemed like forever. She picked up the phone and before she could even say a word I said, “I think I’m in love with him.”

Again, I know. I’m 13 and I haven’t seen this kid in person in months, how the hell do I know what love is?! But I was a brave little girl and I told him. And to my relief, he told me he felt the exact same way. We began to form a “relationship” over the phone, as most middle schoolers do. He lived 30 minutes away, and for two people who can’t drive, 30 minutes meant a long distance relationship.

Every day we talked, until one day we could actually meet up. By this point I had already turned 14. We finally saw each other again at... wait for it... the mall. Hey, we were 13 and 14 and didn’t tell our parents we were meeting a person of the opposite gender, so what did you expect, a picnic on the beach??? Anyway, as soon as we saw each other we were completely comfortable. I went home and told my mom all about him.

We saw each other a lot from that point on, thanks to his mom and my mom for always providing us transportation. We spent day after day together, and called each other every night. A year went by, and then two, and so on. He is treated like part of my family and I am treated like part of his, people think of us as “Lauren and Kc” never just “Lauren” and “Kc." He has been by my side for over 3 1/2 years.

I’m now only 2 months away from turning 18. I’m still young and still have my whole life ahead of me. It’s hard for me to say what my life will look like from here on, but one thing I can pretty much guarantee is that he will be by my side through it all. People will say that young love doesn’t last, and that college will break us, and maybe they are right. But if you look at us, and how happy we are... I would guess you put your money on us for the long run.