The Crush Plan

6

"Rise and shine, cupcake!" Mom cheered, moving over the curtains and waking me.

I groaned, rolling over on my bed and hoisting the blanket over my head to block out the sunlight. "Mom, it's Saturday. Let me get some decent sleep for once."

She huffed, and I felt the edge of the bed dip. "Hun, Dylan and I have to go out. I can't just leave with you sleeping like there's no morning."

"Why can't you? Not like I'm going to peep in on your date," I mocked groggily.

Mom sighed a heavy sigh. "Autumn, I'm not going to argue with you and ruin your morning. Just... Get up and meet me down for breakfast in ten minutes."

With that, I heard her footsteps retreating back downstairs. I threw the blanket off of me and shot up from the bed, the sunlight not even bothering me the slightest anymore.

"You already ruined my morning, Mom," I murmured quietly enough for myself to hear.

After coming out of the bathroom and combing my hair decently, I applied some moisturizer on my skin. Candice had told me it was exactly what I needed to avert pimples and zits. Apparently, jocks had to look faultless.

"Hi, Dylan," I greeted once I was ready for breakfast, flopping down on one of the stools by the counter, beside where Dylan was seated.

Dylan Peterson was my mom's boyfriend. He was rich and dapper, to say the least. Dylan had slightly curly black hair, and a tan complexion. He had a pinned-down nose and thin lips, which brought a nice vibe to his green eyes. Always dressed in tuxedos and formal dress shirts, Dylan appeared overly-sophisticated all the time.

He flashed me a polite smile. "Good morning, Autumn. How's school going for you?"

I shrugged, munching on my oatmeal. "Just perfect."

"Sienna, I'll wait in the car for you, alright? By the way, Autumn," Dylan glanced at me, his smile still not faltering. "I'm sure you're going to do great your junior year, even better than you always do. You're so smart, after all."

I waved him off, "oh, thank you. It was nice seeing you."

He stood up from his seat, "of course. I'll see you again, soon. Have a nice day."

With Dylan walking out, Mom let out a breath of relief. She'd always been worried excessively about how I'd get along with Dylan. Whenever he visited, she opted to answer all the questions he asked me. It was getting irritating for me, by this point.

"Okay, hun," Mom began, "your lunch is in the fridge. If you need anything, call me. Oh, and clean up the living room, please. I love you." She kissed my forehead.

I put down my mug of coffee. "Mom?" She watched me in curiosity, waiting for me to continue. "I'm eating lunch with Candice. I won't be home until the evening. And, I guess I'll eat the lunch you cooked for dinner."

She shrugged, like it didn't matter. "Whatever suits you, sweetie," Mom fixed the strap of her bag on her shoulder, beginning to walk off.

"Oh, and Mom?" I called her again.

She turned back, raising her eyebrows in a hurry. "Yes, honey?" I could tell she was trying to rush me.

I looked down, and then gazed back up at her. "If you thought it'd be rude of me to not meet Dylan, you could've just told me. You didn't have to make excuses like I-can't-leave-with-you-sleeping. I'd appreciate the honesty."

"Autumn, that's—"

I stood up from my seat. "Have fun, Mom," I scoffed, striding back upstairs without taking a second look at her bewildered face.

***

"That was the best lunch ever!" I exclaimed, still cherishing the heavenly taste of the tortilla pie on my mouth.

Candice agreed, sipping from her coke. "Mhm, that so was."

I pondered intently for a minute. "You know, the one thing that would make today even better is..." I trailed off, perplexed to the sight ahead of me.

"What?" she inquired, scanning my face. "Autumn?"

She followed my gaze, which landed on a certain O'Connor, standing by an ice cream truck. He was there with Alfonso, licking a chocolate ice cream cone. Just the sight of that kind of adorability made me swoon.

"Ice cream?" Candice completed my sentence.

I nodded. "Yep."

She turned her gaze on me. "But, it's fall." I made a face at her, and she seemed to remember how much I loved to eat ice cream during this time of the year. She inhaled, nodding. The two of us strutted over to the ice cream truck, making it seem like a coincidence that we were there.

"Autumn?" Caden uttered, surprised to see me.

I faked a gasp. "Oh, Caden? Oh, God, what are you doing here?" Candice stepped on my toe really hard. "Ow!" I winced.

Candice whispered into my ear, "don't act like you just won a lottery—he's obviously here to buy ice cream."

"Is something wrong?" Caden inquired, concern evident in his eyes.

I shook my head, "nope. Nothing."

Alfonso held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Alfonso Quincy."

"Hey," Candice muttered shyly, shaking his hand. "I'm Candice McLean. Nice to meet you."

Candice and I ordered two vanilla ice cream cones and once we got them, Caden also received his order of a few ice creams, packed. He informed he was heading somewhere else. Alfonso insisted on walking Candice home and she accepted his offer, so that left me to decide where I would go.

"Um, I'll come with you, if you don't mind," I managed to exude. "I have to go that way, anyway," I told Caden.

Obviously, Caden, being the nice guy, didn't object. He and I separated from Alfonso and Candice, heading to a direction contradicting to where we lived. The walk was quiet, neither of us saying anything. It was like that for several minutes, until Caden ended the suspense and revealed where he was headed.

"This is it," he spoke, making me peer up at the Peace NGO building ahead of me.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why did you come here?"

Caden smiled. "To meet my little friends."

After Caden set his two feet past the entrance, several kids came sprinting towards us. They all jumped up and down in joy to see him. I didn't know why, but that somehow caused me to feel a wave of sentimentality flooding into me. One of the little girls tugged onto Caden's hand, making him kneel down to be at-level with her, so she could peck him on the cheek.

"Welcome home, Caden," she said with this warm grin.

He chuckled, pecking her in return and standing back up. "Alright, guys, I have something for you all."

All the kids started bouncing up and down in excitement. "What is it?! What is it?!"

"I brought you all your favorite...," Caden grinned, taking out a pack of ice cream and handing it to a little boy. "Hand them all out, please, Gabriel."

The little boy, Gabriel, obliged, and began to hand them out to his friends. Caden handed the second packet to a little girl, and she also started to hand out the ice creams. The kids were beaming, and I could see the satisfaction on Caden's face palpably.

"Thank you, Caden!" the kids shouted altogether.

He winked at them. "You're most welcome."

"The kids are so adorable," I countered once Caden and I were sitting by the benches.

He grinned, admiring the view of them all gleaming with the cones of ice cream in their hands. "They really are."

I titled my head to face him. "So, tell me... Since when do you know these kids?"

"My mom works here," Caden informed, not taking his eyes off of the little ones. "I met these kids one day when I came to visit Mom for lunch. See, these kids all suffer from certain diseases. However, their families can't afford to pay the fees of their treatment. So, the founder of this NGO decided to work towards helping these kids get proper treatment. After all, each of these kids have so much potential they still have to show."

I detected a smile automatically crawling up my face. "It's good to know such people still exist."

Caden shrugged, looking down and then back up to meet my eyes. "It's sad to think some people care more about the payment than the presence."

"Well," I placed my hand on his, comforting him. "That's only some. There are still many good people in this world. I mean, that's what I believe. Honestly, that's what keeps me going. That's what gives me hope that this world is still worth living in."

His eyes twinkled with the slightest bit of reassurance in them, and I sensed my heart flutter at the thought of Caden confiding in me. My hand was still on his, the tenderness of his touch somewhat soothing me, and his warmth melting me. I observed this emotional fire in his eyes. Like being here, with these kids, was very important to him. In that moment, I decided being here was just as important for me.

"Caden!" Gabriel hollered from his circle of friends. "Come play monkey-in-the-middle with us!"

I laughed softly, as Caden stood up from his seat. "I'll be right back."

Watching Caden jumping in the middle of a group of kids, and pretending as if he was the shortest in spite of his obvious tallness, triggered some sort of respect inside of me for him. It made me believe that it didn't matter if Caden ever found happiness with me, he deserved to be happy. It didn't matter with whom.

"He's so generous, isn't he?"

I nodded, not taking a look at who was talking. "He's the best."

"So...," the voice trailed off, "for how long have you liked him?"

I stiffened, tilting my head to come across a girl around her early teenage years. She had dark circles under her electric blue eyes and her head was concealed in a tight, red beanie. Her pale skin was really dry, and she seemed really weak. I watched, as she plopped down next to me on the bench.

"I don't like him... Like that," I lied, failing.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Then, how do you like him?"

I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "He's a friend."

"Oh, quit lying," she motioned for me to shut up. "You like him. I can see it clearly in your eyes."

Looking down, I sighed. "Fine, yes, I do like him."

The girl grinned. "Good. By the way, I'm Michelle. You?"

"I'm Autumn," I shook hands with her happily.

Michelle peered back at Caden. "If you like him, tell him so. You never know how long you'll be around him. Sometimes, we take things for granted, and don't realize there may come a time when we won't have what we once had. As cliche as it sounds, the difference between a dream and reality is simply a blink of an eye. We close our eyes, we're dreaming. We open them, we're facing the reality."

I cleared my throat. "What's your reality?"

"... Cancer," Michelle disclosed, ever-so-bluntly. "I was diagnosed with Cancer at the age of eleven. I tried chemo, and as you see, I got no hair," she pointed to her beanie. "But, doctors say I got a few months at most."

Tears brimmed my eyes to her words. I couldn't bear to comprehend that the innocent child ahead of me was fighting such a harsh reality. Suddenly, my eyes traveled over to Caden, who just so happened to look at my direction during the same time. He smiled at me before turning his attention back at the kids. A faint smile played on my lips, while a tear droplet trickled down my eyes.

Michelle wiped the tear away. "You're beautiful, Autumn. And, Caden's amazing. You both would make the perfect match. I think you should tell him before it's too late."

"I will," I whimpered. "Once the right time comes."