In high school I had a semi-girlfriend named Kelly who I was crazy about. Puppy love. We never really went out technically. I was too shy and timid and kind of chickened out of formally going out with her. We both knew we liked each other a ton, and flirted all the time, but other than one week of walking around school holding hands, we never went anywhere with it, but we were always very good friends.
She was a year younger than me, so when I went to college we slowly drifted apart. An email here or there, but we mostly lost contact as the years went by. After having not seen each other for 4 years, she emailed me telling me she was coming into town to visit a university she was considering for her masters. She was staying at a hotel nearby and asked if I wanted to meet up for dinner. I jumped at the opportunity.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still have feelings for her. In my mind she was always my high school puppy love that was a big “what if?” in my head. But we were just meeting up as old friends, so I never let my hopes get up.