be gentle to those with crushes on you. the strangers that interrupt you and try to flirt with you while you're reading your favorite book in the quad. the boy in your bio class who blushes a little when he sees you. the guy from high school who sends you Facebook messages from time to time, but whom you've only ever seen as a friend.

remember how it feels to be on that one-way street, and the heartache that comes with being ignored and unacknowledged. how it feels to pine for someone and look for signs in the way they look at you.

you don't owe them anything, but they have tossed their beating hearts in your hands anyway, and it is up to you to set them down gently.