The Crush Plan

2

Beauty was something we inherited out of sheer fortune. Either we were born beautiful, or we weren't. If we were, attention was practically handed over to us. If not, too bad.

As I gazed into my reflection in the mirror, I realized I wasn't exactly ugly. My complexion was fair and blemish-free. Those dark brown eyes staring back at me had a glint of innocence to them. My hair... I ruffled my hair, slightly shoving a strand of them behind my ear. My hair had a color between brown and black; light brown, they'd call it. Depending on the weather, my hair decided whether it wanted to be wavy or straight.

I twirled around, inspecting my outfit curiously. Wearing a plain white shirt, with casual jeans and a neon jacket, and probably the most ordinary converses—I looked normal. But, just as I put on my big, brown, squared glasses, my normalcy faded. At least in the eyes of those jocks it did. In their view, nerds weren't normal. Nerds never fitted in, which is why they didn't deserve to be treated like the jocks did.

"Autumn, come on down! Breakfast is ready!" Mom hollered from downstairs.

Grabbing my school bag, phone and keys, I sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mom turned around from making tea and greeted me with a wide smile, which I returned in a reduced form as I plopped down on a stool by the kitchen counter.

My mom was a really cool mom, unlike me, being the uncool child. She was a divorcee, but had a rich and dashing boyfriend, and a carefree attitude. Mom was really easygoing with me, but she and I didn't have the closest mother/daughter bond. She spent most of her time with her boyfriend, while I spent mine studying. Our relationship was simple; not too amiable.

"Good morning, honey-bun," Mom greeted, wrapping her comforting arms around me. "Did you sleep well?" she asked, pulling back with her smile even wider now.

I nodded, biting on an apple. "Yeah, I slept fine. You?"

"Great," she said, pouring me a cup of tea. "I'm off for work, sweetie. I'll see you later tonight. Love you!"

With those words, Mom was out the door. I gaped out the window in front of me, silent and bored. Suddenly, my phone buzzed and I raised it to see a text from Candice.

"I'm outside your house. Are you ready?" -C

"Yup, coming right out." -A

Once I finished eating and doing the dishes, I locked the house and scurried right out. I noticed Candice's red BMW standing outside my house, and rushed to get inside before I noticed the male figure coming out of his car, which was parked across the street.

My mouth was agape. Caden O'Connor.

His bright complexion glimmered under the sunlight, as he slowly strutted towards his parked car. The way he was carrying himself spoke so much about him. Such ease, such pride—like he had not a care in the world as to what others thought of him. The soft brown hair I always had an exigence to feel, was pushed back with an excessive amount of gel. Suddenly, time froze when his brooding emerald eyes contacted mine. I couldn't help but stare; he was just so stunning.

Caden wore a denim jacket with black pants, and a branded pair of sneakers. His figure appeared tall and muscular; the one thing that made girls go gaga over him.

I clearly remembered the first time I met Caden. A year ago, a week before the end of my freshmen year. I was upset over being insulted by my first crush—who moved out a few days prior to the last day of school—and Caden just moved into town the same day. When he'd noticed how upset I was, Caden comforted me unlike most other people here. I discovered he'd joined our school the very next day, and ever since, I realized I liked him. Although Caden hadn't seen my face that night, I knew he was the guy who assured me I was worth something when I didn't think I was worth anything.

"Autumn, get your butt in the car before I notch your eyes out," Candice pressed, her eyes shooting stakes at me.

I mumbled a quiet 'sorry' before jumping into the car, and driving away with my angry best friend.

Candice McLean was a vivacious girl with wavy, light blond hair. Her complexion was fair, but she had a few blemishes here and there. Her hazel eyes were almond-shaped and the prettiest. They carried a friendly vibe to them. She had thin, pink lips and a pointy nose that complimented her round-faced shape.

Candice wasn't the most popular girl in school, but she definitely was the wisest. She didn't believe in vying for attention, but she did believe in getting the attention one deserved. Candice wasn't friends with the jocks, but the jocks did respect her, because she was the one student who could get them whatever they wanted in school, being the head student official.

The two of us arrived at school in ten minutes, and I immediately remembered I had to report to the gym five minutes before first period. I bounced out of the car, and began speeding to the front entrance.

"Autumn, wait! You forgot your—" I heard Candice shout, but I couldn't hear the rest because I was already into school.

***

There was a minute left until first period, and I was headed to my first period class, which was geometry. I was walking lost in my thoughts, until I realized something... My schoolbag! I glanced down at my shoulder and noticed it wasn't there. Oh, no!

So, that was what Candice was trying to tell me!

I looked into my watch; there were literally thirty seconds until the bell would ring. Which meant, I had around fifteen seconds to find Candice, two seconds to get my bag, and rush to class in the next thirteen seconds. I immediately took a U-turn and sped to Candice's first period class—which was English.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

In less than twenty seconds, I was in front of Candice. She handed me my bag, rolling her eyes. I snatched it out of her grip, and without indulging in the formalities, hurried back to geometry class. The bell rang when I was halfway there; much to my bad luck.

Thankfully, the teacher entered right after I did. However, the thing was, there was only one seat left, and that was next to Caden. And since today was the first day of the new semester, I had to sit in that spot for the rest of this semester.

I stood there for merely a few seconds when the teacher prompted me to seat myself, as he didn't have all day. I gulped nervously, slowly making my way over to the empty seat and slipping into it inconspicuously.

"Autumn," my teacher called, shaking me into reality. "Answer this question," he pointed to the whiteboard.

I bit my lip, scanning through the words recited. "You have to apply the Pythagorean Theorem in order to find the length of side C. So it would be five squared plus five squared, and the square root of the sum would be the length of side C."

The teacher faintly smiled. "Good job, Autumn," he complimented, starting to scribble on the board once again.

"You're quite smart."

My heart stopped. My breathing sped up. As much as I wanted to believe my ears, I couldn't. Caden O'Connor just spoke to me! I felt my inner mind wanting to scream out in excitement, but I had to keep my control. Biting my gums to keep from smiling, I chastised myself to play it cool.

I took in the deepest breath, tilting my head to look Caden in the eye. "Thank you," I murmured softly.

He gave me a slight nod, turning his gaze back to the board.

"Do you get this problem?" Caden asked once we were instructed to work independently. "I don't know how to start this off."

I peered into his notebook. "May I?" I requested, holding my hand out for him to hand it to me. He nodded again, handing it over to me, as I began scribbling the steps and explanations down in it. "There you go," I smiled slightly, sliding it back on his desk.

Caden skimmed through my writing. "Oh, that makes so much more sense, now. Thanks."

After managing a slight nod in response, I went back to doing my work. That was the main highlight of geometry, because the rest of the period went by quick, and nothing else really happened. Soon enough, it was lunch time, and I made my way into the cafeteria with my head held down. I observed Candice sitting at one of the tables far off to the corner, and quickly stalked over to her.

"Hey, what's for lunch?" I questioned, sitting down in the seat across from her.

Candice popped a nugget into her mouth. "Nuggets, cheeseburger, milk, brisk, and... That's about it."

I groaned frantically. "I hate them all, and I'm not in a mood for a cheeseburger. When will they serve something new, for once?" I frowned, slipping out my phone to see if there were any texts.

"Just appreciate you have an option of food. You know, there are people who have nothing to eat at all," she preached, sipping on her brisk. Saint Candice always had this agitating habit of correcting everything I said that everything she disagreed with. Although I knew that rather well, it slipped out of my mind majority of the time.

I faked a smile. "Of course, Candy, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Putting my phone away, I annoyedly glanced around when I detected Caden sitting three tables away from me. He was with his circle of friends, laughing and joking around. I saw him wave at Clarissa Brian, head of the cheerleading team, and felt the slightest tint of envy as to why couldn't he wave at me.

As if on cue, Caden's gaze shifted to me and when our eyes met for the briefest moment. He flashed a quick wave my way. The earth stopped rotating and time froze for just that instant. I almost fainted then and there. Caden O'Connor waved at me!

"Will you ever stop drooling over him?" Candice scowled, while I excitedly waved back at Caden.

I shook my head, my gaze still on him although his wasn't on me anymore. "Not in this lifetime."

She scoffed, banging her fist on the table. "Autumn, grow up already! Either go up to him and tell him how much you're in love with him or give up. Because, I know you'd be more than happy to just watch him from afar all your life, but when I look at you, you seem overly-pathetic!"

"But...," I contemplatively uttered, now looking at Candice. "He doesn't even know who I am."

Candice sat back, huffing. "How is he ever going to know who you are if you're going to keep staring at him from afar?"

I stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Autumn, he's a jock. You only get his attention if you're one, too ."

I blinked in confusion. "But, I'm not a jock."

Candice rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then, become one."