It was Fred Leblanc's 16th birthday.
His best friends Fabienne and GG were planning a surprise party for him. Their plan was that they would spend all day with him as usual, while Benji and his girlfriend Penelope would prepare everything for the party at Fabienne's house in the basement where everyone would surprise Fred when he got there.
Everyone from Fred's class were invited, including Anette Freeze-Dright. She hesitated about going at first, but Fabienne, who was also her best friend talked her into it.
"C'mon, if you cared about him," she had told her, "even if he doesn't feel the same way, it would still mean a lot to me and him if you had the guts to come."

Penelope was very enthusiastic about getting everyone together for the party, especially Anette. She wanted to tell everyone a secret that she thought was incredibly gossipy…

So far, everything was going well. GG and Fabienne were away with Fred, Penelope and Benji finished preparing everything, and everyone who was invited came, even Anette.
There was just one problem.
It was currently 7 PM and Fred, GG, and Fabienne still weren't back yet.
Despite that, mostly everyone continued partying anyway. Some were dancing, some were socializing, and others, like Anette, were helping themselves to the refreshments.

Just then, she overheard a conversation between Penelope and her friend, Jody.
"They're really late, huh?" said a disappointed Penelope, "What nerve. They didn't even call. Aw shoot, now everything's ruined!"
"Penelope," said Jody, "Tell me what's going on or I'm outa here."
"Oh, I wanted to wait till everyone was here, but..." Penelope smiled excitedly. "I can't stand it anymore!"
She paused to build up suspense.
"Fred…loves…Anette!"
Anette froze and dropped her cup of punch.
"Wow. That's interesting," said Jody sarcastically, "You know, it's not too late to catch a movie."
Penelope sighed.

"Benji!" Penelope yelled to her boyfriend, "Turn the music off!"
"Huh?"
"TURN THE MUSIC OFF!"
So he did, much to everyone's surprise.
"Everyone! I have an announcement to make!" said Penelope facing everyone, "Since Fred's obviously not coming, and more importantly, my gossip was anti-clamatic, this party is cancelled!"
Everyone awwed.
"Y'know, come to think of it," complied Benji, "Chico never really liked surprise parties. Or 'parties' in general."
"So would everyone be so kind as to leave," continued Penelope, "so we can all put this incredibly awkward moment behind us?"
So everyone did, rather reluctantly.

"So basically," Benji asked Penelope, "You were over-enthusiastic about setting up this party just so you can announce that Fred had a crush on Anette?"
Penelope nodded.
"Well, you think she feels the same way?"
"I dunno. It's easy to tell with someone like Fred. But with Anette, it's hard to tell if she even has human feelings."
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't interested in Fred at all."
Benji then noticed Anette lying down on the couch in the middle of the room with her arms crossed.
"Hey, Anette, the party's over," he said, "Aren't you leaving?"
"I will soon," said Anette, "I just need some time to regain my composure."
"Um, I dunno what that means but alright."

Eventually everyone who was at the party went home, until the only person who was left in Fabienne's basement was Anette.

So much was going on in her head.

The fact of the matter was that Anette really did have a crush on Fred. Fabienne was the only person who knew about it. Anette thought that if Fred ever felt the same way, he would've at least told his best friend. However, it's possible he didn't tell her because since she was also her best friend, he'd be embarrassed each time they ran into her. It was just a hunch, since that was the exact same reason Anette was reluctant to tell Fabienne at first.
Anette didn't always have feelings for Fred though, at least she didn't think she did. It's just that she put so much focus on her artwork, that she never had time to think about being in a relationship.
There was this one guy she dated, William Intense, only because he seemed to be as interested in art as much as she was. They started off pretty well, until William kissed Jody Goodheart behind Anette's back and she dumped him real hard. Since then, she returned back to her artwork without any cares about dating.

Until that one fateful day.

Fred was in the hospital with a broken leg.
Anette was working on her self-portraits, as usual, when GG barged into her room with something of vital importance to tell her.
"Fred is in love with a spellbinding woman whose uncommon beauty makes his heart sing," GG had said. Anette just looked at him in disbelief. He couldn't possibly mean…
"And if, 'wink wink,' by some extreme coincidence I were ever to discuss it with said woman, 'wink wink'," GG continued while winking, "I would tell her to run to him as fast as her feet could carry her!" And with that, he gently pushed her away from her art all the way to his car to the hospital.
Anette could've resisted, but as weird as it sounds, her mind started receiving many positive thoughts about Fred, which went all way back when they first met. She had always seen him as this nice, helpful, intelligent, independent young man with a great twisted sense of humor and a special blasé exterior. She always felt that way, but just didn't realize it until that one little "push".
However, once she got to Fred's room, she saw the most unbelievable thing.
Fanny Cotton, Fred's ex-girlfriend, was lying on top of him in a nurse's outfit!
"Tell me you love me Fred!" she had said.
"Yes Fanny! You're the love of my life!" Fred cried.