I chuckled to myself as I said, “I like you.” Perhaps a little too loudly as it turned out.

The girl walking in front of me took one quick glance back, wrinkled her nose and sped up. I wonder why.

I’ve said and done many embarrassing things all my life.

Sometimes it’s something from my teens, like grabbing a guy’s collar while making eye contact with a crush. I wanted her to know I was tough, and it made sense back then. Now, not so much.

Sometimes it’s saying something very incredibly stupid in the heat of the moment. A few months go by, I find myself reminiscing and face-palm. What the hell was I thinking when I said that, or did that?

Sometimes it’s a social faux pas. I’ll spare you the details.

If you ever hear me say, “I like you” seemingly out of nowhere and I’m not making eye contact with you, I probably found myself yet another funny or not-so-funny embarrassing episode from my past. It’s one of the few phrases I use when talking to myself out loud.

It’s short for, “I like you, Azuka, despite how silly you often are.”