Spell Break

1. Crashes and Crushes

Author's note:

Hey reader{s}! I decided to put songs to stories, and the one I chose to represent this chapter is called "Almost lover" by 'A Fine Frenzy ft. Jasmine Thompson'. The Q. Ron Chill remix is the one you should listen to, so here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIbTmX1TBIY

Just copy and paste the url, and enjoy!

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My name is Corinne. Most people just call me Crash. Especially my dad, who is the one who started calling me that. My dad is a lot of things. Creative is one, embarrassing is definitely another. Supportive, sure. More so than my mother at least. I really look up to my dad. After all, he is Eros.

Ya know, the Greek god of love.

Lockers slam closed all around me as students hurry to their first period classes.

"Crash!" Someone calls from behind me. I turn to see Parker Jameson running toward me with that goofy smile and bright eyes of his. "Crash," he says as he tries to stop but ends up tripping over himself.

We both laugh and I help him to his feet. "Thanks again for the tip." He says as he catches his breath.

Oh gosh, I like you a lot. My mind says. "About what?"

"About homecoming."

My mind frantically races through all the things I might have said to him about homecoming.

"What did I say?" Something like I don't have a date yet or how about next Saturday? Will you go to homecoming with me?

I had literally asked him. I had gotten up the courage to ask my best friend to homecoming.

"You told me how to ask. Ya know, the grand gesture. Simple, yet irresistible. And guess what?"

Thousands of things go through my mind as he stoops down on one kneel and looks me in the eye.

Yes yes YES YASS!

"I took your advice." He says, and begins tying his shoe. "And McKinley said yes."

Everything in the hall dims, my magical fantasy of being taken to homecoming by the hottest guy in school is squished. No no NO NO! My face falls, and my heart sinks.

"Seriously?" I ask.

He straightens up, beaming at me with his pearly whites. I have to incline my head quite far to even look into his startlingly blue eyes. "Yep! Someone caught my proposal on camera, and posted it to InstaGrok. Here."

He hands me his phone and I unlock it, having already memorized the password. His profile is already pulled up, and the video plays in front of me.

There he is with an armful of limes. He approaches McKinley and falls, dropping all of the limes. She gasps, and he laughs. "I guess I really fell for you." Then he gets to his feet and gathers up the fallen limes. He keeps dropping them, just like I told him. Then he smiles at her and says "I guess I'm not very good at pickup limes, but will you go to homecoming with me?"

My heart shatters as she nods eagerly, tears brimming her big brown eyes. She throws her arms around his neck and he spins her around in a romantic embrace. Everyone cheers and the video ends.

"So," Parker asks, watching my reaction intently. "What do you think?"

I put on a fake smile and pretend excitement. "That's amazing Parker! You did it. You actually did it." Then I tell him the sad truth. "McKinley is a lucky girl."

He sighs all dreamily and stuff, and I turn back to shut my locker, biting my lip to keep it from quivering. I will not cry over something this stupid.

Suddenly the hall is empty, as if I'd just noticed the absence of conversation. I bolt away from Parker, yelling over my shoulder about class, but really I just didn't want him to see how badly it hurt me. I told him how to ask a girl in a cute way and he turned and asked someone else after I had already asked him. Typical. This is my life.

Slowly but surely the hours grind away. Everyone is absolutely ecstatic about next weekend, with the impending homecoming game looming on the horizon.

In the cafeteria everyone buzzes excitedly about Parker's proposal, all the girls fanning their faces and squealing at the mere thought.

I'm not joking you, everyone in the entire school has a massive crush on this kid. Including me! Even after all the heartache of my past and the threat of the curse, I somehow managed to fall in love with him. But I drowned my feelings and emotions, trying to be his best friend, instead of a love interest.

I think about the proposal all day. He was lucky she hadn't been asked before. Incredibly lucky. She is the most popular -and by far the prettiest- girl at our school, but somehow wasn't asked before the last week possible.

The commute home is no better. Everyone on the bus won't shut up about Parker, and one kid has even started to bug me about it.

"Oooooh, Crash." He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

"What do you want, Braden?" I snap.

"Just curious," He says, and leans over the back of his seat to come face to face with me. "How long have you liked Parker?"

The question takes me off guard, and I curse myself for letting my emotions show. "What do you mean?"

He rolls his eyes. "I've seen the way you look at him. You're in love." He teases.

"No, I'm not." I glare at him, trying to keep him from drawing attention, which he is really good at.

"Well duh you are. You stare at him during Biology, and when we dissected frogs, you volunteered to be his partner first."

I wave it off. "He didn't have a partner, so I was doing him a favor. I was only staring because I was debating whether or not I should-"

"Ask him to homecoming?" Braden interrupts with another suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"-Tell him about the paper clip stuck in his hair." Honestly, it took him forever to notice that I put a paper clip in his hair, and it was really cute.

Braden just mm-hmm's, and crosses his arms. "What about when you sneak glances at him in the cafeteria? Or in the library, or while you're reading a book and he's practicing football on the field?"

Taken aback, I quickly reply "You know way too much about my personal life, Braden. It makes me really uncomfortable"

"It's because you love him, don't you?" He ignores me.

"Braden, how do you know so much about me?" I ask, annoyance levels through the roof.

"You're in love." He teases in a sing-song voice.

"No, you are." I say sternly. I snap my fingers and point to a random girl in the back of the bus. "With her."

Braden's eyes widen and he gets a dreamy look on his face. "Are you sure?"

"Im sure. In fact, you are going to ask her to homecoming right now." I say.

He stands up and basically runs to the back of the bus, confessing his love for a girl he's never even met before. I snicker as everyone around stares at the spectacle he's creating.

The bus stops and I get off just as Braden gets rejected. Everyone basically riots when she burns him by saying "you think anyone wants to go to homecoming with someone like you?"

I snicker, but I also feel horrible. The words seem directed at me, and I also feel guilty for using my gift for 'evil purposes.' Again.

No one will ever want to go to homecoming with me. That's part of the most ironic curse under the sun. Me, the daughter of the God of love, is incapable of feeling love. No one can fall in love with me. Even if I make them.

~~~