High school crush... Most of us probably have a name or two that already popped up in our mind. Teenage romance, with so little knowledge, so many new and confusing feelings, navigating situations you're experiencing for the first time in your life. Have you ever figured out what made them so attractive for you? If you never made a move, do you regret it, or do you think it turned out for the better? Do you know what they're up to now?
One Reddit user had pretty much the same questions. They wanted to know "how did your high school crush turn out as an adult?", and people were eager to share their stories. After all, this, often the very first, crush has left a mark on many, as it is a very vulnerable and intense experience happening during our formative years.
From tragic losses to actually putting a ring on the person's finger, Bored Panda selected the most interesting accounts from people who kept tabs on their crushes and actually know what they're up to. Upvote your favorites and don't hesitate to share the story of your high school crush if you have one!
#1
Still super hot. She married some loser and has a few kids with him.That loser was me. Just celebrated 22 years of marriage.
Image credits: BobSacramanto
#2
Haha, my husband! Our first marriages didn't work out and we reconnected after our divorces. If only I would have confessed I had a crush on him in high school, might have saved myself a lot of trouble... Lol
Image credits: Pineapple-dancer
#3
You made me check and she is actually a very successful artist and an art teacher at a renowned university in France. She even got decorated for her work (Chevalier des arts et des lettres)
Image credits: chinchenping
#4
My friends high school crush was Tom Holland... Like they went to the same school
Image credits: 5im5am
#5
Overdosed and died last year. I got to see him before he was taken off life support with a really good mutual friend we shared (organ donor too). It was surreal seeing him dwarfed by all these machines. He had one the largest hearts I’ve ever come across.
Image credits: Voltage_Biter
#6
An insanely talented molecular biology researcher at Boston. And she’s still insanely attractive
Image credits: sderou20
#7
Went on to be a teenaged model for hair products, graduated from Yale, toured Europe, opened her own successful ceramics company that is sold worldwide and is often written up in magazines. Makes me feel like s**t every time I think of her.
Image credits: dogchowtoastedcheese
#8
He had a rollercoaster of a life. I admire him more than ever, and more than most people I know, but can't wrap my head around why I ever found him physically attractive. Maybe it was always just his heart.By age 25, he had a PhD, a wife, and was a captain in the navy. By 30, he had two PhDs, a small business where he made a metric a*s-ton of money, and his wife was pregnant. By 31 he was diagnosed with stage-4 skin cancer that swiftly spread to his lymph nodes, bones, esophagus, and a few other places. He was told he had minimal chance of making it 5 more years. Even with the best health insurance money can buy, it still basically wiped him out.
Seven years later, he's living a comfortable but not extravagant life as a civilian contractor for the navy, same wife and two happy healthy kids, and spends most of his free time advocating for better public health care.
Image credits: theMycon
#9
My crush turned into a self-righteous prick who still lives with his parents. He became livid when he found out my husband and I had a baby. I apparently was supposed to be his back-up plan if he couldn’t find anyone better.
Image credits: Pixie_gurl
#10
Hot douche who doesn’t really do much except go to the gym.To be fair, that’s how he was in high school, I just liked it back then.
Image credits: kevin_moran
#11
Became a professional cheerleader, Died of breast cancer at 34. Googling names from high school is crazy!
Image credits: frijolita_bonita
#12
Began acting. It’s weird - every so often I’ll see a commercial or something and be like “oh, hey, I know them!”My crush is an incredibly sweet person, so I’m glad.
Image credits: BitwiseB
#13
He’s 32 and still works at the same pizza place and is a conspiracy theorist so I feel like I dodged a bullet.
Image credits: thrashglam
#14
Still a ten for looks. I'm sure she kept on as the amazing, kind person she is. She moved to another country, speaks multiple languages and is more successful than I imagined. She seems happy but we haven't talked since the time I told her how I felt about her about 20 years ago.
Image credits: gorgonheap
#15
My high school ex randomly sent me a text years after we split up that went "I know you don't like metal, but I thought you'd like this" and a link to a clarinet cover of a metal song (I played in HS).Little did he know that I hated playing clarinet and I was now a total metal head.
Image credits: justAHeardOfLlamas
#16
She worked with the Obama administration (I forgot in what capacity) got married to some politician’s son (don’t remember don’t care to look up.)She is happy and that’s the only thing that matters, oh she was also our schools Valedictorian she was so busy with her job she could not organizeour high school reunion so that’s a plus.
I wasn’t head over heels for her I admired her but I knew I wasn’t for her.
Then there’s another crush of mine, we ran into each other years after graduation at grocery store. After talking I asked her out to dinner at my house, I pull out all the stops I buy rainbow trout filets and make all the fixings.
6:30 rolls around I open the door and “who the hell is this man behind her?” Oh this is my fiancé , she tells (neglected to tell me about) me. Turns out they wanted to sell me on some MLM thing. She tried to cross the threshold I put my arm out and asked them politely to leave. I turned away from the door and had my saddest meal I ever ate.
Image credits: Gunslinger_11
#17
My English teacher still looks fine as f**k
Image credits: vouch4meplz
#18
Pretty good. Seems to have her life together, although she had a few setbacks. She's gone back to uni since job prospects in here field kinda sucked, but seems to be really enjoying it.She's dating me though, so clearly her judgement sucks.
Image credits: boltgun_to_the_face
#19
My only GF in high school was my crush. Her mom banned her from dating me after about a year because my GF admitted to her mom that we were fooling around. This was about 20 years ago.She’s still living with her mom, no kids, and as far as I know never again dated seriously after her mom broke us up. Still has the same job from high school too. It’s like her mom went way into protective overdrive and my former GF never grew up.
Image credits: USPO-222
#20
I had three. One from the first two years and two from the last two.The first one is now F to M trans, who walked to Colorado to join a cult/commune. He is now in Arizona recording rap albums.
The second girl moved to Florida and lives in a swamp. She periodically hits me up to tell me she misses me, how dumb I was that I didn't follow through, that we should get married.
The third was a missionary. She wasn't really into it once she grew up, came back home and I introduced her to one of my closest friends. They've been married for 15 years.
0/3.
Image credits: DrRoborknik
#21
She passed away our senior year, six months after she agreed to marry me after we graduated :(
Image credits: MightyCaseyStruckOut
#22
Still cute as heck, one of the kindest and most sensitive people I know, and still one of my best friends 15 years later. He's also recently divorced (his wife was gay but needed time and support to come to terms with it) and now he and I are slowly testing the waters :) What started as a crush has matured into a deep and rich friendship, and—however it may unfold—I'm so grateful to have that relationship in my life.#23
Hedge fund manager with a trophy wife.
Image credits: silberfuechsin
#24
Dead by 32, drugs
Image credits: anon
#25
The guy I crushed on for 2 and a half years did not end up turning out great. I'm still friends with his younger sister, so I know that he recently acquired his third DUI and his second divorce. He's currently living in his friend's basement and occasionally works for his friend's moving company as a mover, but only when he feels like it. He spends all his money on booze and owes the two moms of his 5 kids tons of child support. But man, was he hot in high school.My second crush in high school is the only reason I got over my first crush. He's currently doing great, mostly because he gets to be married to me for going on 20 years :D.
#26
He’s an attractive gay man. I am none of those things#27
She's still hot, successful and wealthy entrepreneur, and married someone with the same first name as me and who quit his job to brew beer. I crushed on her for a bit, didn't think she was interested so I dated others, then come to find out she crushed on me senior year, I was too dumb and blind, we connected freshman year of college, she wrote me letters, and by the time I wised up she had moved on. No one to blame but myself.
Image credits: SignUp12345678910
#28
I had two unrealized crushes in high school. One is a teacher and musician. She is married and has either one or two kids. We've kept in loose contact via social media and ran into each other at a NYE party shortly before she got married. I was introduced to her now-husband as 'favorite ex ever.' He seemed like a decent dude and I'm happy for her.I believe the other became a US Attorney. I have not heard from her since google+ almost became a social media thing. I imagine she's still very productive and would be disappointed in my life choices.
Image credits: ripAccount35
#29
One of them is homeless and a druggie. It's very sad.The other one is famous in his home country, is a best selling author, and is regularly on tv. Don't have a crush on him anymore, but I'm glad we are still friends, and I'm happy for how well he's done.
I guess they balance one another out.
#30
I briefly worked with mine and didn't realise it was her until I left for another job. She looked almost unrecognisable, but it was 15 years after I last saw her. She's married with a couple of kids now, so pretty standard life I guess.
Image credits: anon
#31
I was a freshman and had a crush on a senior. To add to it, she was a cheerleader and her brother played QB for the football team (and got a college scholarship.)She showed up at a football game a couple of years later with a baby in tow. She’s married now and back in her hometown. That’s about all I know.
Image credits: ArmyMedicalCrab
#32
Back when I was younger and crushing hard I got on AOL instant messenger and had gotten my crush’s screenname from a friend. I worked up the nerve to start a conversation with him and soon after some awkward small talk he sent me a message in Comic Sans, black background, red lettering, and in French. I then went to google for translation and found out he had just called me a pig, in French. Being a seemingly awkward and chubby teenager, I was literally crushed.The heartbreak was only made worse by remembering that a few weeks prior I had selected to take French class the next year and couldn’t change it.
Years later now that I’ve *blossomed* he follows me on every social media platform, has reached out a couple of times to try and flirt/hang out. Hard pass.
I believe he’s moved away and is a teacher now.
#33
I had several!One of them is still a close friend, and he became a primary care doctor. He also officiated my wedding.
I have no idea what happened to another one. We didn't really have overlapping friend groups and she doesn't do social media.
One of them is a math professor now, so that's pretty cool.
My BIGGEST crush in high school was my longtime neighbor, but it also fizzled out pretty quickly after we went to homecoming together. We're still good friends, and our families still keep in touch. He's also the guy who introduced me to my husband.
#34
I remember walking up to her and asking if we could talk in private, and she said you can say what you need in front of everyone (her group of friends were all around). So I asked if she wanted to go on a date. She burst out laughing and said “yeah, Um no..”S**t was rough, man.
Looked her up last year and she’s a cage fighter now. Wut
#35
Harvard. Degrees in writing and medicine. Became a leading surgeon in a major city. Extremely proud of her. Always had her on a pedestal.... I guess with good reason#36
They both ended up as great guys.One has a huge family and is a minister. The other only has one child and is a college professor. Both married nice people and are happy.
They were really good guys in high school and ended up being really good adults. I've got both of them on Facebook and we keep in touch peripherally as we stayed friends over the years.
Image credits: AssociationHuman
#37
There was a girl I really admired for a while, she didnt really give me the time of day after freshman year though. She was co-valedictorian and hugged me as I crossed the stage at graduation, and no one else got one. I'm still really confused about that 6 years later.She went on to med school and is either married or at least engaged to a guy she met there. Overall shes doing really well, and I'm happy for her.
Image credits: BoilingHotCumshot
#38
Multiple degrees, on track to being a full-time educator, mother of two, and my wife.I'm so lucky.
#39
Divorced with two kids, I took her and her kids to lunch after meeting her in a mall one day. I hadn’t seen her in over 10 years. We caught up on small talk and I asked the kids if they were hungry they said yessss! I just wanted to spend more time with my crush . After lunch I asked if I could see her again..... she laughed at me and said I could never go out with someone like you. She said the exact same thing to me in high school .That’s my life ! I’m not good enough for anybody#40
He’s an ardent Q Anon trump supporter. We’re not even American. He got married a few years ago and tried sexting me in January then blocked me when I said I don’t f**k with married men and that he was making me uncomfortable.#41
Still hot af
Image credits: Normaly-abnormal
#42
One is still active duty in the military and she has a very successful career as an officer. I hope she continues to be. The other is successful in the arts and I hope she continues to be that as well. Both are married to others who treat them well.I'm happy that they are both happy.
My life is still going good here so I have no hard feelings.