“When I grow up, I want to marry her.”
Why it's great
A boy turns a playground crush into a lifelong plan and means every word of it.
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Use it yourself
When I grow up, I want to fly the planes my dad fixes.
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00:00 / 02:35
Buddy's School Crush, Explained
Belfast · 2021
Chapter 6 of 14 · 2'35"
The teacher reads out this week's test rankings, and Buddy lands bronze. But the real subject is the girl in his class: she glances at him, then runs off with the other girls. "When I grow up, I want to marry her," he tells his grandfather, dead serious.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 1:28–1:49
When I Grow Up, I Want to Marry Her
21s - 1:49–2:10
Buddy's One-Sided Crush
22s
Buddy's School Crush, explained
What happens
At school, the teacher announces the weekly test rankings: Billy Clanton Junior is bottom with 17%, while Buddy takes bronze and Catherine takes gold again. Walking home, Buddy talks about Catherine with his grandfather — she only looks at him in class, where talking is banned, and spends break with the other girls.
What's really going on
The rankings give Buddy a rare public win, but the scene keeps pulling away from the classroom to what he actually cares about: Catherine. He watches for her at every turn and even knows her address — "It's Reynolds Drive, four houses in from the right, the one with the wonky eight." The adult's teasing ("Women are very mysterious") is gentle, and Buddy answers with a threat that gets the biggest laugh. Under the comedy is a child taking love completely seriously: "When I grow up, I want to marry her." He thinks his only problem is that she is too clever and he too "stupid," and he imagines that being a wee bit dumber would put them side by side. The threepenny bit and Granny's joke about what's yours is mine show the family humouring him without ever talking him out of it.
Key lines & what they mean
- “When I grow up, I want to marry her.”
- Buddy's matter-of-fact declaration of intent. It is funny because he is a schoolboy, but he means it completely, and the adults treat it with care.
- “She looks at me sometimes, but we're not allowed to talk in the class, so I can't say anything.”
- His whole romance is built on stolen glances and rules. It explains both his hope and his helplessness: he has no way to reach her.
- “If she were a wee bit more stupid like me, we'd be sitting together by now.”
- A child's logic for why they are not together: he blames the gap in their cleverness rather than their shyness. It is self-deprecating and fond at once.
- “I try to look in, but she never sees me.”
- The quiet ache at the centre of the crush. He passes her house daily and is never noticed, which is why the adults' teasing stays kind.
Theme
- Coming of age — Buddy's first crush and his blunt plan to marry her show how seriously a child treats love long before he understands it.
- Family love — Granny and the grandfather tease Buddy about Catherine but never dismiss him; the threepenny bit is affection, not judgment.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level2/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“She looks at me sometimes, but we're not allowed to talk in the class, so I can't say anything.”
Why it's great
Three turns of the sentence map the whole ache: a look, a rule, and no words.
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Use it yourself
She smiles at me, but we're not allowed to chat, so I can't say anything.
“If she were a wee bit more stupid like me, we'd be sitting together by now.”
Why it's great
A self-mocking if-clause turns his crush into a joke he can live with.
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Informal
Use it yourself
If I were a bit more organised, we'd be done by now.
“I try to look in, but she never sees me.”
Why it's great
A boy confessing in one line: I keep looking, and she never once looks back.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
I try to say hi, but he never notices me.
Up next · 07benefit of the doubtThe scene: Buddy Learns to Game the OddsTakeaways
What you walk away with- fella is a casual word for a man
- a wee bit softens any adjective
- bloody is a mild British swear
- not allowed to states a rule
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Questions, then the linesWhy is Buddy worried he is too stupid for Catherine?
He thinks their whole problem is brains. He says if she were a wee bit more stupid like me, we'd be sitting together by now — meaning she is too clever and he is not, so they never pair up.
What does Buddy's family think of his crush?
They tease him gently and never tell him he is wrong. The grandfather calls women mysterious, another voice jokes about women smashing his face in, and Granny tells him to go and find out how the girl thinks.
Who is the girl Buddy wants to marry?
It is Catherine, the girl in his class. She wins the gold in the weekly tests, and Buddy watches her and knows where she lives, on Reynolds Drive.
Why does Granny give Buddy the threepenny bit?
It is affection, not charity. She slips him the coin for a sweet, cheerfully fends off his objection that his da says she can't afford it, and both the gift and the joke show how close they are.
What does "Sisyphean" mean in the teacher's speech?
It describes a task that never ends and feels pointless, from the Greek myth of Sisyphus. The teacher uses it to mock the students who do badly because they do not try.