Chapter 1

The bell had rung for the dismissal of third period and now Tyler Martin was on his way to the cafeteria for lunch. The cafeteria was quite crowded that day since it was cold and raining outdoors in the courtyard and so, after he had gone through the lunch line and paid for his lunch, he turned and looked around for someplace to sit.

The freshman table was full, which is where he would normally sit and he didn’t dare sit with the older kids – for a freshman to sit anywhere other than the “kiddie table” as the kids called it was strictly taboo. A kid could get punched in the nose, stuffed into a locker, or at the worst, “pantsed” – having his pants and underwear forcibly jerked down in the cafeteria or hallway in front of the other students! Such humiliation was something no kid wanted to endure.

After a few minutes, a small spot opened up at the freshman table and Tyler quickly moved to grab it. He sat down to eat his lunch when he noticed that at the next table, the sophomore table, sat Krystal Smith. She sat facing him, but she paid him no mind, not even looking in his direction.

Tyler, however, was smitten immediately. Why wouldn’t he be – Krystal was beautiful, popular, and friendly. A sophomore, she wasn’t able to be a JV cheerleader, but she was the head of the booster club which was the sophomore version of the cheerleading squad.

Tyler could barely remember he had to eat lunch, he was so absorbed in the angel at the next table. But lunch only lasted a half-hour and when Krystal finally got up with her friends, the magical spell was broken. But not before most of his lunch period had been wasted. He looked up at the clock, then quickly wolfed down what he could of his lunch before the bell rang and he had to move on to the rest of his school day.

He tried to concentrate on his schoolwork – he knew that his chances of even being able to talk to someone like Krystal were practically nonexistent. She was a grade ahead of him, she had a ton of friends she ran with, and she probably had a boyfriend to boot. All that plus she didn’t even know he existed!

Still, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. And the more he thought about her, the more he wished he could get to know her. Tyler had it bad for this blonde-haired hottie.

But Fate was not through teasing him yet. Tyler soon found out that he was crossing paths with his secret sweetheart quite often during his school day. Aside from having the same lunch period, they had two classes together, they crossed paths on their way to another class, and their hall lockers were only a short distance apart! At each of these incidental meetings, Tyler’s heart would jump when he laid eyes on his Krystal.

Once Krystal had gone on her way, though, reality hit him between the eyes. He knew that his was the impossible dream and he needed to get over this “crush” before he did something stupid and embarrassed himself in front of the whole school. He would be here at this school for the next four years, and he didn’t want to do anything to screw things up for himself!

The State Fair had come to town shortly after school started, and everyone in school was abuzz about it. All the conversations in the halls were things like “Are you going to the Fair?” “Have you seen what’s at the Fair this year? Or “I went to the Fair the other day and it was such fun!”

Tyler decided the Fair might be a good distraction from school and Krystal, so he decided he would go and check it out. That Saturday, his Mom drove him to the Fair and arranged to pick him up a few hours later. Tyler set off to see what all the commotion was about.

He wandered around the Fair for two or three hours, just looking at everything. He stopped and got some cotton candy and a foot-long hot dog to eat while walking around. He was getting tired after all the walking around and he sat down on a bench to rest.

That’s when he heard a strange voice ... faint, but still loud enough to pique his interest. It seemed to be coming from around the corner of one of the booths. He rounded the corner to see what it was and he found it – an old dilapidated Zoltar fortune-telling machine!

“Come, let Zoltar tell your fortune! Make a wish and Zoltar will see if it will come true!” the machine mechanically said. The lights flashed and the Zoltar inside moved his head, although these days it was pretty stiff and jerky.

Why not? Tyler thought It should be good for a laugh! So he fished a dollar out of his pocket. “I wish that Krystal Smith would fall in love with me!” he said aloud (after checking to make sure no one else was around!). He inserted the dollar bill in the slot and suddenly white smoke appeared inside the machine and then it cleared quickly. Then a slip of paper came out of the machine next to where his dollar went in. “Your wish has been granted.” both Zoltar and the slip of paper said.

“Yeah right,” he chuckled to himself. He put the piece of paper in his pocket and did a little more walking around before his mom came to pick him up.

That night, he took the piece of paper out of his pocket and put it on his nightstand when he went to bed. As in most nights these days, his dreams revolved around that hot blonde at school.

Monday morning came around and all thoughts of the Fair and the Zoltar machine faded. He was more interested in seeing Krystal! But today would not be an ordinary day by any means! Tyler had just gotten his books out of his locker for his first class when he heard a girl’s angry voice behind him.

“Dammit, Steve, watch where you are going!” It was Krystal and apparently, one of the kids at school had come running around the corner and knocked all of the books and papers out of Krystal’s arms. She was bending over to start picking up the mess when Tyler came over to help.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he said, almost automatically.

“Thanks. This is a fine start to a Monday!” she said. Then she looked up to see who was helping her with the mess. Tyler’s eyes met hers and time stood still. She looked at him like she’d never seen anything like him before. She kind of cocked her head curiously and gave him a weak smile. Tyler just stared – this was as close as he had ever been to her and she was just as beautiful up close. The two just sat there on the hallway floor for who knows how long before the late bell broke their spell.

“Oh crap! I’m going to be late! Thank you very much for helping me with this!” Krystal said, and she was off like a flash.

Tyler got up and went on his way to class as well, thinking nothing more about it. At least he got to talk to her for a moment!

That day at lunch, Tyler had just paid for his meal and sat down at the freshman table and was about to start eating as usual.

“Would you mind if I sat here?” a girls’ voice said from behind him. He turned around – it was Krystal!

“B-but you’re a sophomore!” he stammered, nearly struck dumb by the surprise of it all!

“Yes, but I never got to properly thank you for helping me this morning. I had a big essay I needed to turn in today and it was in all those books and papers. If it had gotten trampled on and ruined, it would have been terrible! You saved me from having to rewrite it!” she said. Then she leaned over and kissed Tyler on the cheek. “Thank you again.”

Tyler about fell out of his chair! This was Krystal Smith... THE Krystal Smith ... and she just kissed him! He couldn’t believe it! His heart was racing and he was having a hard time controlling his breathing. It was like he was having a heart attack and an asthma attack at the same time!

“You know, I’ve seen you around school quite a bit. Aren’t you in Mr. Douglas’s science class next period?” she asked.

“Y-yes. I sit ... up close to the front,” he stammered. God, he was so nervous!

“I thought so. Anyway, I’ve seen you around and always thought you were a nice guy. Want to know a little secret? I’ve wanted to talk to you like this for some time ... but I never could work up the courage!” Krystal said, blushing and looking down.

Krystal Smith ... scared to talk to me? he thought. The idea was so ludicrous, he accidentally chuckled aloud.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, sounding a little indignant that he would be laughing at her.

“Sorry, it’s just that I never pictured you being embarrassed or afraid to talk to anyone. I mean you are so pretty and so popular and everything,” he said, apologetically.

“Well, you are such a quiet guy. I mean I wouldn’t even know you could talk except when the teacher asks you a question or takes attendance. And I never see you with any friends, so I can’t even ask about you,” she said.

“It comes from being a military brat, I guess. We’ve moved around so much, it’s just not worth making friends anyplace. I’ve learned the only one I can stay friends with is myself,” he said.