The Secret Crush (6 page)

 

Chloe IMed Zee after dinner.

 

It took Chloe a while to respond.

 

Zee's heart pounded at the thought.

Hmmmm.

 

Zee ran downstairs to her father's home office where the fax machine was already humming. She grabbed the pages and picked up a pen off the nearby cherrywood desk. She headed back to her room and curled up in her comfy chair where she focused on the quiz questions.

• 1. Does he touch his hair when you're nearby?
  
  • a. Yes.
    
  • b. Sometimes.
    
  • c. No.
    

Zee circled
a
.

• 2. Does he sit next to you at lunch?
  
  • a. Yes.
    
  • b. Sometimes.
    
  • c. No.
    

Sometimes,
Zee thought, but the whole music class can say that—except Kathi, who got to circle
a.

• 3. When you turn his way, is he looking at you?
  

No.
That wasn't going to help her score, but it was true.

Zee went through the rest of the questions.

• 4. Does he stumble or drop things when you're around?
  
• 5. Does he stammer when he talks to you?
  

Zee circled
sometimes
for those two and for most of the remaining questions. Then she totaled her answers and checked her score. “Inconclusive,” she read. “It's hard to tell if your cutie is crushing on you or not. But keep an eye on him to see how things develop.”

“Ohmylanta!” Zee said out loud. She took out her diary.

3 Reasons I'll Be Happy Break Is Over

1. 1. Getting to see Landon again.
   
2. 2. Getting to see if Landon likes me!
   
3. 3. Getting to work on the musical.
   (With Landon, of course.)
   

 

“Wait up!” Chloe called out to Zee, who was speed walking to first period. “I can hardly keep up with you.”

“Sorry,” Zee said, stopping so her friend could walk beside her. “I'm just so excited, because”—she paused—“after four days away, I'm ready to get to work on
Taking Sides
.”

“You're not going to be able to sing a note if you're winded,” Chloe pointed out as the girls rounded the corner and entered the room.

“That's why I want to get there….” Zee's voice trailed off.

Two unfamiliar figures stood at Mr. P's desk—a girl with a teddy bear backpack purse and a tall boy with his hair spiked up on top. They both wore Brookdale Academy uniforms.

Landon entered the room, too.
Yay!
Zee thought, smiling in his direction. Landon didn't notice. His eyes were glued on the new girl.

As Landon reached up to smooth down the hair on top of his head, Zee remembered the magazine quiz she'd taken the day before.
“Does he touch his hair when you're nearby?” Ugh!

The girl stopped talking to Mr. P and turned around. She was incredibly pretty, with silky, shiny brown hair and a button nose. Her dark eyes were circled by long eyelashes. She looked at Landon, who was staring right at her.

“When you turn his way, is he looking at you?”
Zee remembered another question from the quiz. This super-pretty student could definitely circle
yes
.

As Landon headed to his seat, he tripped.
“Does he stumble or drop things when you're around?” Yikes!
It just got worse and worse.

Ohmylanta!
Zee's heart felt like someone were stomping on it. Having perfect Kathi around to steal Landon's attention had been bad enough. Now there was this new girl. Was she going to ruin everything for Zee—right at the moment Zee was beginning to think Landon
really might like her back?

Jasper turned Zee's way and grinned. “What?” Zee whispered.

“It looks like Landon might have a thing for the new girl.”

Zee sighed. If Jasper had noticed, Zee knew she was in trouble.

The new girl accidentally bumped Zee's leg with her violin case. “Oh, I'm such a klutz. Are you okay?” she apologized, giving Zee a sweet smile. A
real
one. Now Zee felt even worse. The girl couldn't help the fact that she was so pretty. And if she was nice, who cared what she looked like?

Chloe elbowed Zee out of her thoughts and gestured to the new boy, who high-fived Marcus, then sat down next to him. The new boy put his sax case on the floor.

Marcus looked at the other students, who were staring at him. “Oh. This is Conrad. We met at the music store this weekend,” he explained. “Then we hung out.”

Landon's mouth dropped open. It was obvious he had no idea Marcus had made a new friend over break.

Chloe wiggled her eyebrows up and down at the boy. Zee had to admit, with his dark eyes and spiky hair, he was cute—not gorgeously handsome like Landon, of course, but cute.

“Listen up, everyone,” Mr. P said, quieting down the students. “We lucked out and got two additions to the class. This is Missy Vasi,” he said, nodding toward the girl, “and Conrad Mitori,” he added, tilting his head in the other direction. “The timing is perfect. Over the break I realized that our leads don't have understudies. Missy and Conrad have agreed to learn those parts and fill in if necessary.”

“You mean, they won't get to be in the musical unless Zee or Landon can't play their parts?” Kathi asked. “That doesn't seem fair.”

“Good point,” Mr. P said.

A huge smile spread across Kathi's face as she proudly looked around the room. “Thanks!”

“We could use more people in Lily's and Dylan's groups of friends,” Mr. P began, “so Missy and Conrad would be great there.”

“Would it be okay if Conrad and I worked on mixing music, too?” Marcus asked. “Missy could take my place on sets.”

“That would be awesome,” Missy said. “I love to do scenery.”

“Yes!” said Conrad. “DJ Conrad's in the house!”

Everyone laughed—especially Jasper. Zee thought he looked happier than he had in a while.

 

 

Zee realized that Ally and she were feeling exactly the same way. Major things were happening in Ally's life, and Zee wasn't a part of them. And Ally wasn't there for all of the changes that were happening to Zee. Zee wished the girls could be together again in Brookdale. Then they could just forget about how different their lives had become. But Zee knew that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, and they'd just have to keep figuring out their friendship over the Internet.