Crush by Amber Hutcheson.

Crush

Darren Harris was, in the opinion of Alicia, the best looking boy in class. School. Maybe even the whole world – to her knowledge. She’d spend most lessons shooting him glances, maybe even giving him the odd stare if she couldn’t get caught. She had his number, and she tried to text him but he’d either ignore her or give disinterested results. He must’ve had other people for his eyes to be on – like Fran Simpson, or Chrissie Bale. But all sweet, young Alicia wanted out of life was someone like him – or so she thought. If not handled delicately, a childhood crush can quickly become obsessive, or spiral out of control. Or even become a point to fixate decisions on; which is never the right thing to do, even if it seems to be at the time. Luckily, the young blonde hadn’t yet allowed herself to fall into such habits. But it was always a possibility.

It was February 14^th, more commonly known as Valentine’s Day, and Alicia was walking to school with her older brother Billy as she always did. Billy was four years above Alicia – a few months shy of his GCSEs. He was 5ft 11, quite different to Alicia’s 4ft 9. However, he shared the same uniform. As they walked down the street, curving their steps with the pavement, the young girl piped up, “Are you going to spend break and lunch with Shannon? Or can I come sit with you guys?” The older boy ran a hand through his hair before looking to his sister. “You know they aren’t two different options, right? You can still come sit with me even if Shannon’s there – she doesn’t bite!” He teased, ruffling her blonde locks only for her to swat his hands away, “But it’s Valentine’s Day! Y’know, the day that was literally created for romance – i.e., the thing you should spend with your girlfriend, not your nagging lil’ sis!” She argued - and it was a good argument, Billy had to admit.

Unfortunately for the young girl, it wasn’t good enough to dissuade him. “Not quite, Liss. Valentine’s Day isn’t about romance as such, more love. And, as much as you hate to admit it – I’m your brother so you have to love me!” He exclaimed whilst giving her a playful nudge, receiving a slight shove in response, “I know that, dummy! Just...well, yeah, you get me,” Billy lifted a brow, looking down at the tiny girl, “You’re going to spend the day moping over Darren, aren’t you?” He asked as they neared the school gates. Alicia didn’t reply. As he was about to ask again, the pounding of smaller feet came over to them, and the young girl was immediately whisked away by a perky young redhead. Billy watched the two leave; one smiling widely and giggling, the other merely attempting to do so.

It was lunch when Alicia meekly slipped over to her brother’s typical bench in the school yard, waiting for him. When she spotted him walking across the yard, she sat up straight, only to shrink back into herself when she saw a girl beside him. Tall, slender, auburn hair and green eyes. Shannon Donaldson. Honestly, the pre-teen had no issue with girl – though she was very pretty actually. She was just shy. When she had been noticed, Shannon waved only to frown when she didn’t receive one back. Billy said something to her quietly, to which she nodded, before kissing her on the cheek and jogging over to his sister. “C’mon – what’s happened?” He asked, sitting down beside her with his hands on his knees. Alicia just shrugged, slipping her hands into her pockets and looking up at something. Billy followed her eyes. Darren Harris, Georgie Hockney, Fred Blake. Of course. They were playing table tennis, Georgie vs Darren – but he noted Darren seemed to be distracted by their other friend who was “cheerleading”. “How many did he get?” The boy asked, looking at the smaller girl who replied with a murmur of, “Twelve,”

Now, this was where Billy groaned in confusion. How could anyone possibly inspire so much affection? Twelve different people who had some sort of feelings – even if they were likely disposable feelings, ones that would disappear briefly. “Look, I bet you’re more worth it than all twelve of those confessions and valentine requests. I think that maybe, if you asked him out to that place down the road, he’d say yes in a heartbeat!” He exclaimed positively, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze, “And if he doesn’t, well, he looks like a sour lemon anyway,” That joke made Alicia brighten up a little, giggling at his words and nodding. She had to teach herself to cope with rejection. “Now, c’mon,” Billy started, getting up and standing in front of her, “Let’s go get some food for you – then maybe me and Shan can help you build up some courage?” He offered. The blonde nodded, hopping up and, once Billy called Shannon over, the three headed inside to the cafeteria.

After some time spent getting advice from Shannon and being psyched up by Billy, Alicia felt invincible. Unable to be rejected. So when Chloe, her best friend, came to collect her from the older couple, she followed – beaming brightly. She went to her next few classes, trying to find the right moment, until it came to the end of the school day and she still hadn’t spoken to Darren! She was running out of time, she had to do it soon! So, as the class were walking out of school, she plucked up the courage to approach him and the group around him; Fred, Georgie and Fran. They were stood in a circle; Darren’s hands on his bike handles, Fred’s arms folded and Georgie’s arm wrapped around Fra-wait, what? She’d been his Valentine? That was certainly a shocker. As she approached, Fred – who pretty much knew about her feelings, merely from observation – wriggled his eyebrows and nudged Darren. The boy seemed to jolt at the touch, more than you would expect of someone being jabbed by their friend, before looking over at Alicia when the other boy nodded towards her. She gave a nervous grin and waved a little, continuing her approach. The other three took the hint, scattering in their own directions to her home.

“Alicia, hey. What’s up?” Darren asked, resting his bike up against the railing and turning to the girl. She took a deep breath before starting a long speech that was, rather admittedly, flawed. “Well, Darren, since it’s Valentine’s Day – y’know, day of love and affection and all that – I figured that maybe today would be a good day to admit to things-”

“Alicia-”

“And, since it’s a Friday anyway, I figured if I say this now then you have a weekend to think things over-”

“Alicia, I-”

“I guess what I’m trying to say, is that I kinda-no, I definitely like you, quite a lot, and well, I was wondering if, maybe, you’d-”

“Alicia!” And, with that, her ranting and raving was cut short. The blonde went silent, nerves rushing through her as she toyed with her fingers. Darren tried to form words, but he was simply too confused. After he composed himself, he asked slowly, “Alicia, what...what exactly are you saying here?” gesturing a hand towards her for her to continue. “I...You wanna go to a food place with me at the weekend? It’s just a few streets from here,” She offered, instead of trying to ramble out her confession again. She’d just have to hope he said yes and make herself more composed for the weekend. “Oh, um...yeah, sure. I’ll text you,” Darren replied, though he seemed hesitant. As Alicia went to thank him for this, he cut in once more, “I’d better get going,” He spoke hopping on his bike before repeating, “I’ll text you,”

And text her he did. They arranged to meet the next afternoon, and Alicia was ecstatic. She, her mother and Shannon spent the morning fixing her up, making her look like a little angel. They curled her hair, dressed her up all nice. She was even allowed to wear a bit of make up! By the time it was all done, she looked stunning. And with that, she texted Darren and headed down to the food place nearby – “The Crown Hut” or something like that. She only had to wait about 10 minutes before he showed, dressed casually, and offered a generic yet unsure compliment. She tittered and thanked him nonetheless as the two entered. They sat and ordered, making small talk, before delving into a deep conversation. The two hit it off astoundingly well, and knew most things about one another within the two hours they had spoken. Their talk came to a natural break, and Alicia decided to take this opportunity to confess. Both children spoke at once, then laughed it off. “Age before beauty,” Alicia joked, gesturing to Darren, only for him to laugh nervously. He tapped his fingers against the table, seemed a little paler with the nerves. Wait...could her dreams be cropping up true? Could he be confessing to her? “I...wow, this is hard, I mean you’re so nice, I don’t want you to just ditch me,” The twelve-year-old stammered out, before taking a deep breath. “It’s okay, Darren, you don’t have to be nervous,” She assured, before the brunet suddenly blurted out, “I like Fred, I-I’m gay,” And the blonde’s smile twitched downwards a little, about to speak, before he continued, “A-And I didn’t know who else to trust, the boys wouldn’t understand, my dad...my dad...” The poor boy couldn’t continue any more.

And, suddenly, Alicia understood. Understood why they were there, what she had to do. This was a boy surrounded by ridicule, and she was a beacon of possibilities, of hope. “Darren, that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m happy you came to me about it,” She assured, sliding around the booth and squishing him in a hug. She had to brush away her feelings. “To think I was going to say something stupid, and you told me that,”

Darren Harris was, in the opinion of Alicia, the best looking boy in class. And Alicia McGraves? Well, she was his best friend and wing-woman. And she was okay with that.