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53 People Who Followed Their High School Crushes Into Adulthood Share Their Life Stories
Being a teenager is weird. And while there are many reasons for it, a huge part comes from how intensely we experience our first attractions, whether it’s a neighbor we hang out with outside every day or a classmate we barely talk to.
With time, we learn from those early feelings and develop a more nuanced understanding of love. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we forget the people we were drawn to.
So when Reddit user Frequent-Sea-8848 asked those who kept tabs on their high school crushes what they eventually became in life, folks shared quite a few interesting stories. You never know what the future holds!
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#1
No idea. Do people really keep up with people they went to highschool with this much?
Claire Holman 7 hours ago
I avoid most of them like the plague; I didn't like them enough in school to stay in touch with them afterwards.
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#2
Dated her back in highschool, it was a chaotic but fun experience, helped me grow, she was smart, patient, and very mature. We broke up as we went studying on either side of the globe.
Saw her again 6 years after graduating, we ended up dating again for 2 years.
I guess we had expectations from our past, but it was clear by the end of the 1st year that our former compatibility wasn't there anymore.
We did love eachother and were pivotal in one another's life, but sometimes it just is like that, and we amicably ended it around the 2 year mark.
It's funny, she's not so different than she was in highschool; calm, funny, intelligent, stunning, and I'm still me, but somehow it didn't pan out.
I've grown so much from being around her, she saved me as a teen and saved me again the 2nd time, I'll always have love for her.
#3
Married her. Except that she has to be married to me she’s doing ok.
#4
I'll ask him when he gets out of the bathroom. He's been in there 35 minutes ffs.
#5
Cheated on me, broke the engagement. Seems to have cheated on every partner since too. Now has like 6 kids by 4 women.
I dodged a bullet big time.
#6
Very successful in her career. Looks amazing in middle age. Married to me.
#8
She's currently laid out on the couch with a broken ankle.
She did wish me a happy 17th anniversary this past weekend though.
#9
She's a very successful anesthesiologist now.
We had this running "joke" that if we were both single at 27yo we'd marry each other. Neither of us were ever single at the same time though our entire lives.
We were really close. We were there for each other for all our major relationships and called each other every time we were dealing with a breakup.
I was the one she called when she had reservations about getting married and we hadn't spoken for a few years prior to that (I moved out of the country for work).
Well now we're in our late 30s and she's gotten married a second time and I have two kids of my own with someone I'm very happy with.
But Jackie will always be the one who got away and that girl I wonder "what if" about all the time.
#10
I actually got in contact with him about 8 years ago. He was this devastatingly handsome guy in high school and very populer. I was invisible and not popular - at all.
My marriage had just ended and we started suggestively texting back and forth for a while. But then I met someone, so I told him. But he kept pressing the issue. I was firm.
A month later his sister posted on Facebook congratulating him ON THE BIRTH OF HIS SON.
Yeah. His girlfriend (whom he lived with) was pregnant and about to deliver when all of this started. And he never mentioned it.
I felt dirty.
#11
I met her last year. She is still pretty, we talk politely, but I realized we have nothing in common. So I can finally move on.
#12
She's a good person, has kids, and a really nice husband. We both turned out alright, but went different directions in life. I love my life, and I am very happy, and she loves hers, and she is very happy. We occasionally keep in touch on Facebook because we were close friends, and continued to be kind to each other for the last twenty or so years after high school.
#13
College dropout. Joined a local Maga political group in north Florida. Spouts racist uneducated slop out all the time, even down to saying "Epstein was a talented financier and Democrats are just looking for ways to bring down trump." She's anti woman's rights, anti lgtbtq. Anti immigration. Anti black lives matter. Can't get a real job because her online presence is to large. (Which is infuriating that she has political influence in North Florida only reason i still follow her is because she has a say in my home town politics. I have since moved to the North east but still cate about my old beaches..).
I wouldn't want to even be in the same room as this person today. In high-school she was quite and soft spoken and pretty down to earth and I wouldn't have guessed that this was what they actually believed in.
#14
Literally no idea. 99% of people I went to high school with I’ve lost touch with.
#15
She got married long before I did; she has grandchildren now, and we've remained long-distance friends. I'm very happy for her.
#16
She’s a lawyer and still heart stoppingly cute, I guess I could just sense her future prosperity.
#17
She’s doing pretty well for herself, has a nice job at a bank in the town we grew up in, recently bought her grandparents house with her husband who she recently married. I actually talk to her really often…. Because she is my wife.
#18
I found out she lived near me still (its been 18 years since we met in HS) and I told her I was thinking of moving to a different town. So she took me out to tea three months ago to say "goodbye" and I decided to move somewhere else in town and now we are dating super hard.
#19
Well, one of them hasn’t changed at all. She still looks great but I outgrown my attraction to her.
My other crush though has substance habits and lives in a car with her bf. I don’t know where exactly she is now but I hope she’s alive and eventually gets out of that situation.
#20
She became a therapist, fronted an awesome punk band, has two great kids, and married my foolish self.
#21
I never really had a crush, but my high school boyfriend went away to college after we graduated and long distance before computers and cell phones was hard and we grew apart.
When I found the man I'd marry, HS boyfriend flew across the country to try to dissuade me (though HS boyfriend and I hadn't been "together" for a year).
Didn't work and I've been married for more than three decades to my love.
High school boyfriend has a husband now too.
#22
Very well. She has a successful military career. Still looks amazing. My life would look totally different if she liked me.
#24
He’s a doctor. Saw him a few years ago, we had a one night stand and we never spoke again. It was amazing and I wanted to high five my younger self.
#26
Married a guy with the same first name and moved to a place I always wanted to live. I gotta hand it to her, that's pretty funny.
#27
We broke up mid 90s and ran into her in the late 2000s. She had no idea who I was despite mentioning a bunch of specifics from our time together and some mutual friends. That kinda stung a little, but it is what it is. I mean 15ish years is a long time, but just hearing that wasn't what I expected.
But where is she today? Looked her up after seeing her waitressing a local pizza place this past Christmas and she has four kids to three different dudes and seems to go through jobs every year. Based on a few FB posts, she has this vibe that everything is a tragedy and that nothing is her fault. Bullet was definitely dodged on that one.
#28
Married with 2 kids working as a teacher. Her husband is a hunk(Its me). Been together since we were 14. Together for 20 married for 10. Its great, she's great.
#31
After we broke up her parents forced her into a marriage with a Mormon guy who just returned from his mission trip. They have 10 kids together and she went from 95 lbs to probably over 200.
#32
Disappeared entirely. At least from my perspective. Never seen a hint of them on social media, while most of my high school chums are on there. Too afraid to find out if they actually died years ago and it never passed through the grapevine.
#35
Wasn't my crush but my first boyfriend. Was so sweet while we were together. Broke up with me after he started college. Started drinking heavily and doing other stuff. Kept coming around to see me which was painful. The last time he came to see me we went out for a while and I realized that he had changed completely. They treated me very disrespectfully. Told him to hit the road. It is my understanding that he had a couple of mental breakdowns...
#36
I have no idea, she doesn't appear to have a social media presence and so I assume she's enjoying her privacy. I did ask her on a date but she said she wasn't interested and so we just remained cordial for the rest of the time we were in school. Wherever she is, I hope she's living a good life.
#37
She got pregnant shortly after high school and became a single mom who seems to be an amazing parent.
We fell out of touch after graduation but still friends on social media.
Looking back if I hadn’t been so timid at that point in my life both our lives could’ve turned out completely different.
#38
She became a surgeon. I tracked her down to Miami using a private investigator. I hadn’t seen her since prom night in high school. There was an incident w my zipper. She was still a smoke show and hanging out with her mentally handicapped brother.
#39
She's doing well. Some parts of our life plans flipped - she planned on adopting kids as she 'couldn't' have any - ended up birthing a son. I planned on no kids (back then) and ended up with bio and adopted kids. She aimed for the city, me the boonies - that's flipped. A few other things as well.
She's still gorgeous, but looking way like her mother these days, which feels a bit weird. 😂 We're Facebook friendly, but don't communicate beyond the occasional like/comment. I haven't seen her in person in nearly 20 years.
#40
I honestly haven't seen her since highschool. Far as I know, she started working at/running her family's diner. Hope she's doing well but looking back, I'm glad I didn't chase that crush. We were/are very different.
#41
He became the head of a major corporation!!
We met up a few years ago. Super nice guy. I was crushed when he dumped me!! but I've been happily married for decades.
#42
Full blown “must have lots of babies to protect the future of the white race”. She went on an international exchange trip for college, came back wrong, married a white supremacist, and started pumping out babies.
#43
She went from being the quiet girl who barely talked to anyone to somehow becoming the most confident person in the room every time I see her now. Life does weird character development sometimes.
#44
She was an early bloomer, looked 10/10 in high school. She recently resurfaced on social media and seems to be doing well as a real estate agent, although she is unrecognizable. She somehow aged 50 years in about 20. My mom looks younger than her, it's crazy.
#45
Became a successful doctor/lawyer. Also seemed to become a hardcore conservative. It’s like we swapped alignments.
#46
She is a senator now. One of the youngest in the country. However, I don't agree with her politics.
#47
We reconnected last year. I always admired her, and we developed a warm friendship. Her family is awesome and our kids hung out and played a lot, which was cute. Unfortunately the friendship imploded because of an anxious-avoidant spiral and I'm trying to rebuild it. It has been a big source of stress and pain.
#48
We dated for 3 years after high school. When we broke up she began studying to be a teacher and she's doing good at that. However, she does OF and smokes substances now as well.
#50
He came out a few years later, we stayed in sporadic touch for years, then for some reason he went MAGA in his forties despite being gay, and sadly passed away a few years ago.
#51
She passed away when her husband drove home drunk from the bar and he went 85 mph off the parkway into the woods. She wasn’t drunk. He never let her drive because he was one of those “trad husband/wife” losers who didn’t want her to have any independence like having her own car. To be fair she was the trad-wife stereotype too.
#52
We're still really good friends! Both married, but not to each other haha. We never dated and definitely wouldn't have worked as a couple, but still awesome to have them in my life!
What do you think ?
Amy Smith 3 hours ago (edited)
Crush (never told anyone about) popped up on Facebook as someone I might know recently - still looks absolutely incredible, didn't stalk her profile or anything, that would just be weird. I don't think she knows I exist though and I'm fine with that. First GF caused me no end of issues but when our paths do cross (still mutual friends) we are civil and can have a decent conversation, we're just not friends. Someone I went to school with that I dated after we left - stalked me until I had to involve the police after we split up. Current GF - amazing :) We didn't go to school together though
Optimus Octopus 3 hours ago
She only saw me as a friend. She dropped out of HS and married the class weed dealer. Ended up homeless. Never saw her again after I joined the navy. No idea where she ended up. Even mutual friends had no clue. Would have done anything for her back then.
Amy Smith 3 hours ago (edited)
Crush (never told anyone about) popped up on Facebook as someone I might know recently - still looks absolutely incredible, didn't stalk her profile or anything, that would just be weird. I don't think she knows I exist though and I'm fine with that. First GF caused me no end of issues but when our paths do cross (still mutual friends) we are civil and can have a decent conversation, we're just not friends. Someone I went to school with that I dated after we left - stalked me until I had to involve the police after we split up. Current GF - amazing :) We didn't go to school together though
Optimus Octopus 3 hours ago
She only saw me as a friend. She dropped out of HS and married the class weed dealer. Ended up homeless. Never saw her again after I joined the navy. No idea where she ended up. Even mutual friends had no clue. Would have done anything for her back then.
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