Chapter One

Stepping out of my hearse, I did feel at least a little stalkerish. I mean, I'd been sitting in my car for 10 minutes, staring at Clare Edwards and her small group of friends. Well, mostly just Clare.

Before I could even get my right foot out of the car, some blond girl, who was short and possibly a little chubby, maybe even pregnant, - like I would know - came up to the side of my car, all bright and cheery, as if we had been friends for years.

I starred at her with a look that was somewhere between confused and annoyed, mostly because she was blocking my view of Clare with her awkwardly high, blond ponytail, wrapped perfectly in a bow of gold and blue ribbon.

"Hi! I'm Jenna. You might have seen me around, you know, being that I'm like, the star of the Power Squad." She had both hands folded in front of her, and she was swinging side to side, like five year olds do when they have to pee.

She was so common, so happy, so not me. Now Clare, she was perfect. She wasn't some stick skinny, perfect hair, cheerleader, that did what everyone told them to do. I'd been watching her for the past two days, absorbing what she's all about. And let me tell you, she's everything I want my girl to be all about – perfect without even realizing it.

Sitting back down in the front seat, only because she was standing right in the space for me to get out, I blankly responded with a "Nope,"

She just stood there, put her hands on her hips, and flashed another smile at me. I did not like this blond girl, Jessica, or whatever.

Then she started talking really loudly, which was really weird. I bet Clare would never talk loud like that. Clare's perfect, small, lips would never dare talk like that. They would only speak words of kindness and words of honesty. And hopefully soon, words of love, to me.

"Ohmygosh, did you see me on Youtube? I sing! I'm like so good, I think one of my videos has like, seven thousand views or something." Okay, I really did not like this blond girl.

"Listen!" Then she started singing. She's freaking singing. My expression changed from annoyed to shocked. I think my mouth even opened, like when they saw your jaw drops. But this was a bad jaw drop.

No way.

…:…

"Please tell me I'm seeing things, Alli."

If my eye surgery had gone right, then what I was seeing was definitely real. Looking across the parking lot, I could see, and like everyone else outside, could hear, Jenna singing…. To Eli.

"Oh my gosh, what is she doing?" Ali yelled while strutting over to Eli's car.

Wherever she was, she walked like a model. Chin up, chest out, stomach in, one foot in front of the other, her heals clicking loudly behind her. She'd taught me this walk before. I'd obviously failed. Besides, I mean, who would even notice?

"Jenna!" She yelled, now half way to Eli's car. "What are you doing? Stop!"

She flipped her head around, her ponytail hitting the side of her cheek. "What?"

"Come on, it's time for first period." Alli was so convincing when she talked. No matter what she said, you always could believe it. She could get away with anything.

With wide eyes and pursed lips, she grabbed Jenna by the arm and dragged her out of Eli's way and back to where we all were standing. I wasn't sure how long it took them to get back to us, or what either of them was saying. I was just starring at Eli.

Well, he was starring at me, with this smirk that was driving me insane, leaning back against his car, looking so… cool. I ran my fingers through my new bouncy, short curls, looking away for a brief second. Just as I looked back, he leaned up from against his car, still smiling, winked, and walked towards the school, leaving me stunned and confused.

He can't possibly like me, right? He can get any girl he wants. He's just so…ugh. It drives me crazy not knowing what he's thinking. Why is he just staring at me like that? What could he possi-

Suddenly, Alli snapped me out of my imaginary questioning. "I saw that whole eye contact interaction thing going on, Clare."

"What eye contact thing? I don't know what you're talking about" So she saw it too? Maybe he was into me. Maybe he does like me. I smiled without realizing.

"Hellooo? Clare bear? Why are you smiling like that?"

"You think he was into me?"

"Who? George? Well, yeah, obviously. I mean, I can't really tell. He's so mysterious." I couldn't help but burst into laughter even though her mistake wasn't even half as funny as I made it look. Was this the way you act when you have a new crush? I couldn't remember.

"What! Why are you laughing at me? I have spinach in my teeth, don't I?" She automatically reached into her oversized gold bag and pulled out a mini mirror.

"No, Alli! His name is Eli, not George." I said, still giggling.

"Ohh, Eli. Right. Did you see the way he was starring? It was like, crazy. He's defiantly into you. For sure."

"He's just so…cool. And I'm so…not." I was like a tiny, broken down shed, and all the other girls in school were like big, beautiful mansions. Now, which would you chose?

"Ohmygosh, Clare. You are so fly, you fell asleep on the plane of hotness. YOU ARE HOT. Like a sizzling ray of sunshine." This chick was crazy.

"Ahh, I love you Alli, even though you're utterly wrong. Now, come on. Time for science."

….:…