Dealing With Unrequited Love for a Friend in a New YA Romance
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In my new YA romance “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”, Chloe is a high school student with a huge crush on a boy at her school named Mordecai. Although he claims he would date her if she were allowed to date, his actions tell another story. He’s constantly going out with girl after girl and breaking Chloe’s heart with his insensitivity to her feelings.
But she loves him despite the pain he causes and despite the fact that, even though he already knows how she feels about him, he hasn’t shared how he feels about her. This leads them to have a very complicated friendship. And it leaves Chloe’s feelings unrequited.
Meanwhile, Chloe has a good friend named Simon. Their friendship is lovely, but it also has its complications. This is mainly because Simon has a crush on Chloe and struggles to confess his feelings to her, leaving them unrequited, too. But it’s also because Simon often finds himself frustrated by Chloe’s persistent crush on Mordecai even after all the times he hurts her.
Let’s look a little deeper at how unrequited love in friendship plays out in this story.
The Complexity of Friendship When Love Is Involved
One of the interesting things about teen relationships is how confusing they can be. Of course, relationships can be confusing at any age. But because teenagers are also having to deal with the transition to adulthood, there’s a lot of other stuff going on in their lives that can contribute to the complexity of their relationships.
This complexity can make the line between being friends and something more blurry. In this story, Chloe is friends with Mordecai, but sometimes it’s unclear whether they really are just friends.
For instance, at the beginning Chloe and Mordecai’s friendship is mostly sustained by instant messaging or IM chats and phone calls. That means they’re not really public friends. But if they are just friends, shouldn’t it be ok for them to be seen in public together? Chloe thinks so, but Mordecai doesn’t agree.
Here’s an example from Chapter 14. To give you some context, Chloe has just forgiven Mordecai for hurting her yet again. This excerpt shows part of an IM chat they’re having, along with some of Chloe’s commentary. (Chloe’s IM name is Simplesnowflake, while Mordecai’s is More2come81.)
Simplesnowflake: anyways…
More2come81: yes…
Simplesnowflake: since you officially acknowledged me at school
Simplesnowflake: twice
Simplesnowflake: are we officially school friends now too?
More2come81: uh…
More2come81: maybe its better that we still keep our distance at school
Simplesnowflake: why?
Simplesnowflake: because of…her?
More2come81: don’t say it like that
Simplesnowflake: never mind, I have to go anyway
More2come81: wait chloe don’t leave that way
Simplesnowflake: how do you want me to leave?
More2come81: happy that ur talking to ur best friend again
Simplesnowflake: Krista is my best friend
More2come81: ur best guy friend
Simplesnowflake: right, my best guy friend who’s ashamed to be seen in public with me
More2come81: chloe…
Simplesnowflake: I don’t think you understand how hard it is for me to see you day after day with other girls when you know how much I like you
Long pause.
More2come81: i’m sorry
More2come81: i guess i never really thought about how this made you feel
Simplesnowflake: I guess not
Simplesnowflake: but whatever
Simplesnowflake: I guess that’s just how things are
More2come81: no i can fix this
Simplesnowflake: you can’t
More2come81: no i will
More2come81: what if we have certain times when we can acknowledge each other at school?
More2come81: would that be ok?
Simplesnowflake: no, it wouldn’t
Simplesnowflake: I don’t like feeling like I’m the other girl
Simplesnowflake: I’ll just be the friend no one knows you have
Simplesnowflake: we’ll keep things as they are now
Simplesnowflake: bye
More2come81: but
I sign off before he has a chance to write anything else.
Mordecai gives Chloe these kinds of mixed signals often—like when he shows hints of jealousy when he finds out that she has a new male friend. (Simon is new at their school at the start of the story.)
They are friends, though. Chloe sometimes helps Mordecai with his schoolwork. And whenever he needs help, she’s the first one he turns to. He knows he can count on her. But Mordecai isn’t so reliable, and he’s prone to unpredictable behavior and moody ways. So, their friendship is anything but simple.
But Chloe keeps loving him anyway. Despite his erratic behavior, she sees the beauty in him and in their friendship. And she keeps hoping that when she is finally allowed to date, he’ll ask her out—or ask her parents’ permission to date her even sooner. Whether or not this is the wisest move is up to the reader to decide.
When Your Heart Yearns for a Friend Who Loves Someone Else
While Chloe is crushing on Mordecai, Mordecai’s feelings aren’t very consistent—at least when it comes to romantic relationships. According to Chloe, he gets a new girlfriend about every two weeks. So, it’s not very clear if Mordecai has strong feelings of love for anyone, although he may use the term sometimes.
But Chloe’s feelings are constant, as are Simon’s. And that means Simon is yearning for someone who’s in love with someone else.
This is far from an ideal situation. But unlike Chloe and Mordecai’s friendship, the one she shares with Simon is very public. Even so—even after all the time they spend together—Simon still struggles to tell Chloe how he feels. And that means all he can do is try to be a good friend while he watches her pine for a guy who doesn’t treat her well.
This sometimes leads Simon to do things that some may not consider appropriate for a good friend to do. But it’s all in the name of protecting Chloe. That’s not how she always sees it, though. And because Simon doesn’t share his feelings with her, she’s able to stay somewhat oblivious to them—or at least in denial about them.
Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 21. It shows an IM chat between Chloe and Krista, along with commentary. Chloe is upset about some of Simon’s behavior that she found annoying at a school assembly. (At this point, Chloe’s IM name has changed to Stillstrong93, while Krista’s name is KristaKakes44.)
Stillstrong93: Simon was such a snob at the assembly today, wasn’t he?
KristaKakes44: how can you say that when you know he’s in love with you?
Stillstrong93: he is not
KristaKakes44: is too
Stillstrong93: did he tell you that?
KristaKakes44: no, but you should hear the way he talks about you when you’re not around
KristaKakes44: it’s always Chloe this and Chloe that
KristaKakes44: why is Chloe so hung up on that jerk Mordecai?
Stillstrong93: does he really say all that stuff?
KristaKakes44: all the time
Stillstrong93: but if he likes me, why doesn’t he just tell me?
Stillstrong93: we hang out all the time
KristaKakes44: duh
KristaKakes44: because you’re so hung up on Mordecai
KristaKakes44: he thinks he doesn’t stand a chance
Krista’s words are coming as an uncomfortable surprise. I kind of always thought Simon had a special preference for me—even that he liked me—but I never thought he liked me enough to compare himself to Mordecai.
Stillstrong93: this is ridiculous
Stillstrong93: we’re just friends
Stillstrong93: we’re good as friends
KristaKakes44: isn’t that what Mordecai says about you?
Stillstrong93: yeah…so?
KristaKakes44: does that stop you from secretly hoping he’ll change his mind?
Chloe doesn’t like having to confront the idea that Simon may have real feelings for her. She enjoys their friendship and she’s perfectly content to leave it as a friendship. But until Simon makes his feelings for her known, she can pretend that he’s also content to stay in the friend zone.
A New Way to Read Teen Romance
This teen romance isn’t typical. In this story, I don’t tell you the ending. Instead, I leave it to you to decide. When you reach a certain chapter, you’ll get to choose whether you want Chloe to end up with Simon or Mordecai. And then you can read the rest of the story based on the outcome you pick.
And just so you know, even though the story is the length of a young adult romance novel, it’s presented as a sequence of blog posts—with one chapter per post.
Excited? If so, go ahead and click here to learn more about the story.
Final Thoughts
When you’re friends with someone you have feelings for, things aren’t so simple. Sometimes the line between being friends and something more can get blurry. And it can be painful to watch the person you love pine for someone who doesn’t treat them well.
If you’re looking for a portrayal of this kind of complexity in teen romance, look no further than “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?” This story will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions as you watch two examples of unrequited love in friendship play out. And if you’re curious to know more reasons why you should give this high school romance a chance, feel free to check out this post.
~ Ashley C.
P.S. If you would like to sample more of my story-writing style, you can click here to read some short stories that are currently available.
Also, if you’re dealing with a complicated crush and would like some personalized advice on how to handle it, you might be interested in my crush coaching services. Feel free to click here to find out more.
Last updated: May 2, 2025
