L-O-V-E

Hey everyone! Here's a story that's kind of based on my life… but not really. Some of it is fictional, and some of it isn't. Enjoy!

Hi. I'm Natalie. I'm probably the average Chinese girl. Average home, average parents, average looks, average grades. I'm what a lot of people would call a nobody, a loser. I wish that I could be popular, like the prettier girls. I'm just so… plain. No one really likes me. It's as though I'm invisible, and everyone just looks straight through me.

I'm in grade 7, 12 years old. I'm quite skinny and short for my age. I have dead straight hair that is black, small brown eyes, a pert nose and lips that made a shape somewhat like a cherry or a heart. I want to be pretty, like a lot of other girls her age, but what I want most is to be loved.

I go to Octavian Country Day school, which is an all-girls school. We have a brother school, Briarwood school. We call the boys who go there the Briarwood Boys. The Briarwood boys are ah-dorable. Problem is, they don't notice me. Why? Because I'm a nobody that no one ever notices.

I moved to Westchester, New York, just three months ago. I moved into the Brickview Apartments, which is where Kristen Gregory, a member of the infamous Clique. The Clique includes: Massie Block, Claire Lyons, Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, and Kristen Gregory. They're like the trend-setting group of the school. They named themselves the "Pretty Committee", which is kind of suitable, I guess, since no one has ever called them ugly before. All the girls in Octavian Country Day school (OCD) worship them. I, on the other hand, hate them in return, so I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

I have 2 best friends: Jessica and Anna. They're both great people. They may not be the prettiest girls in the grade(since Massie Block and her friends have already taken that spot), but they're by far the nicest, and they're the only two people other than my family who won't give me a disapproving glare when I eat the tiniest bit of junk food. I do have other friends, but they're not BFFs (BFF stands for Best Friends Forever).

School. It's really simple. Not much to worry about, since there's not much homework. Principal Burns is our principal. Her face is very much like a crow's, and whenever she makes an announcement someone in the audience always makes a crow calling noise. It's quite funny, and sometimes I find it very impressive how Principal Burns is able to keep her cool when people do that.

So, back to me. There's not much to talk about, really. Besides the fact that I like an adorable Briarwood Boy, by the name of Jeremy. Jeremy Kwok. An ah-dorable Chinese boy who smiles at me all the time. I wish he'd like me though. Just because he smiles at me doesn't mean he likes me. He smiles at everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean it. Eh-very single person at OCD knows he likes Alicia Rivera. But Massie Block and her dumb friends don't notice that, because Jeremy was one of those people who never bothered to flirt.

About Jeremy. He's another one of those average people… I guess. Well, he is pretty good-looking. I call it cute. Others call it hawt hawt hawt! He's not the brightest kid I've ever met, but his clueless personality is so cute. He also plays basket ball, the sport in which he's so very good at. I, on the other hand, play badminton. Not very good at it either. Of course, his friends are ah-mazing at basketball too, and they're all ah-dorable, but why did I have to pick Jeremy? You know what, dial N for No idea.

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"I can't do it. Don't make me. Please!" I begged.

"Aw, come on! He's at the b-ball court. Just say hi. It's as simple as that! I don't see why you're so shy all the time." Jessica answered.

"Yeah, gosh Nat, take a chill pill. Just chill out, sit back and relax." Anna added.

"Yeah, I'm really going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 'ride'." I told them sarcastically. You may be asking yourselves, what the heck are you so scared about? Well, for starters, I'm not the most outgoing person on the planet. Also, I'm not very good at dealing with my love life situations. I'm too nervous to talk to guys I like. In this case, I don't have the guts to go talk to Jeremy while he's playing basketball. How overly retarded is that?

"Come on Nat, we're going to talk to him." Anna linked arms with Jessica and I and marched us out the doors, stomped over to the backfield b-ball courts at Briarwood Academy and stood right between the two. "Hey, Jeremy!" she called. I punched her as hard as possible. I wasn't looking at Jeremy, but at a car passing by in the background. "Yellow punch buggy no punch backs." I smiled guiltily at her. Then I added, whispering, "Never do that again."

"Hey, what're you guys doing over here on the boys' side of our brother-sister school?" Jeremy asked, walking over to us coolly. Jessica nudged me towards him.

"Uh… Hey, we just, uh, decided to come over… for, uh, no apparent reason, really, uh, it's not a problem, is it?" I asked, stuttering as I spoke.

"No, no problem. Oh, one thing, are any of you guys friends with Alicia Rivera?"

"Ew, Gawd forbid. I hate that girl. Why?" I asked, regaining my confidence.

"Oh, you don't like her?"

"Yeah, I do, she goes stomping around the school with her little friends Massie, Dylan, Claire and Kristen wandering the halls insulting everyone she can. I aw-nestly like her." I replied sarcastically.

"In that case…" Jeremy thought for a bit. "Whatever. Well, I'll see you guys around." He waved, turned around on his heel and continued his basketball game.

"Gawd," I said once he was out of earshot, "He's so ah-dorable."

"Gosh Nat, I aw-nestly don't see why you and Anna are always fawning over guys. They're so ahn-noying." Jessica said dryly, rolling her eyes. Anna and I both smacked her at the same time and giggled. "Ow! What was that for?" I burst out laughing really hard. Jeremy and his ah-dorable friends turned to face us.

"What's so funny?" a voice asked. It wasn't Anna or Jessica. Nor was it Jeremy or any of his friends. I whirled around to find Alicia Rivera and her friends, standing there with their hands on their hips, glaring at my friends and I.

"Hey Alicia!" Jeremy greeted cheerfully. Alicia turned and whispered in Massie's ear, "LBR."

"Uh, you know, Jeremy, I just heard what Alicia said to Massie." I told Jeremy confidently. Claire and Massie snickered. Alicia rolled her eyes. Dylan and Kristen, never taking their eyes off of me, folded their arms across their chests and continued glaring at Jessica and Anna.

"Oh, what did she say?" He asked me curiously.

"She called you an LBR." I answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned in anticipation.

"It means Loser Beyond Repair."

"Hey, you can't prove that!" Claire screamed at me.

"Use your brain, Kuh-laire, what else could it stand for?"

"Um, uh, uh………." Claire stuttered.

"Kuh-laire," Massie jumped in, "I'm so tired of looking over you. Use your brain sometime!"

I turned around to face Jeremy, but discovered that he'd left. I saw him walking towards the doors of the Academy, looking hurt. "Looks like someone's madly crushing on Alicia Rivera…" I told myself, slightly disappointed.

That day, I went home and went straight to the computer. I turned it on and signed in. The first thing I saw was and IM from Alicia.

HOLAGURRL: ? WITH U?

PIANOGURL: ???

HOLAGURRL: U KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

PIANOGURL: UNFORTUNATELY NO I DON'T.

HOLAGURRL: JEREMY LIKES ME. U SHOULD KNOW THAT.

PIANOGURL: SO? NOT LIKE IT MATTERS 2 U. U LIKE JOSH HOTZ.

HOLAGURRL: WHATEVS.

HOLAGURRL HAS SIGNED OFF 3:21 PM.

Ding! Another IM. This time it was from Jessica.

JESSMESS: ? R U FEELING?

PIANOGURL: WHY DO U ASK?

JESSMESS: JEREMY 3 ALICIA

PIANOGURL: I SAW THAT EPISODE, NO NEED 4 THE RECAP.

JESSMESS: SRY, ONLY TRYING 2 HELP.

PIANOGURL: WELL, IZ NOT WORKIN.

Next, I got a message from Anna.

ANNABANANA:

PIANOGURL: ? UP WIF U?

ANNABANANA:  MY GUY DUSN'T LIKE ME EITHER. I'M NO BETTA THAN U.

PIANOGURL:  THAT'S 2 BAD. TTIME DUSNT LIKE U? HU DUZ HE LIKE?

ANNABANANA: I DUNNO, I FINK IZ THAT GURL FRM HUMANITIES, HER NAMES… MARY?

PIANOGURL: U MEAN MARIA?

ANNABANANA: YUP.

PIANOGURL: BETTA MARIA THAN ALICIA. JEREMY'LL NEVA SHAKE HER OFF. ALICIA'S 2 PRETTY 2 LIV.

ANNABANANA:

PIANOGURL: I G2G DO HMWK, I'LL TTYL. LUVYA LOTZ, XOXO. MWAH! BYEZ.

PIANOGURL HAS SIGNED OFF 3:52 PM.

But what was I to do? Do homework. Then I went to sleep. Only 10 more hours and I would see Jeremy again.