Love Game

Games. We all play them. But why? And where do they come from? I recently thought about a game of sorts I have been playing and whether or not there is any real point.

Except I believe the game I play only exists in my feeble mind. You see, I have had a semi-secret crush on one of my friends for quite some time now. We don't see or talk to each other very often, but when we do I try to remain aloof and play hard-to-get. But since we've been friends for a while I can't imagine he cares very much if I wait an extra five minutes to text him. As a matter of fact, he probably doesn't even notice. When he comes to meet me at the bar, I don't treat him especially differently than anyone else. I am sometimes rather cold despite the fact that I want to pounce on him. Part of me gets nervous. But the other part of me does not want to give him any indication that I might think of him in a non-platonic way, since we long ago established Best Friend status. Along with this, I somehow hope this will make him find me mysteriously sexy.

Essentially, I am playing a one-sided game. Unless this Best Friend semi-secretly feels the same way I do, which I highly doubt, I am over-thinking every move I make for no real reason. I guess the hard-to-get game is one we all play, whether or not games are necessary at all.

Marisol and I were discussing games in general. While games involving jealousy or teasing are far beyond my scope of understanding, we concluded that you almost have to play hard-to-get. If a girl is constantly in contact, she comes across as clingy or needy. Marisol put it perfectly when she said that a lot of people have missed out on starting something because they are too busy trying not to text first. Boys and girls need to find the perfect balance between being overwhelming and unavailable. No one likes too clingy, but games are often a waste of time and get in the way. I suppose its much easier to figure out when both parties feel the same way.

In my case, I am not so sure since I'm pretty sure my friend is just that. My friend. I try not to play games, because I find it much easier to just put it out there. And in the grand scheme of things, they often just delay things or turn people off. But how do we tell when one is playing a game or just being themselves? This one might be far too much for me to figure out.