The Romeo Problem

The Five Stages of an Unwanted Crush

A/N: Can you believe that we're at chapter fifty already? I can't! So in celebration here is a special chapter.

"Ivy, I need your help." Julie said as she sat down at the lunch table.

"Help with what?" Romeo asked sitting down. Julie and Ivy shared a startled look. They could not talk here, but they definitely couldn't talk in the girl's bathroom.

"Uh girl stuff." Juliet and Ivy said in unison. Romeo shrugged. Juliet and Ivy stood up and looked around looking for some where to talk.

Ivy dragged Julie outside to a table that had two familiar girls.

"Hey, Julie. Hey, Ivy! How's it going?" Alicia asked.

"Do you need something?" Emily questioned curiously, glad of their presence.

"Julie needed help with something and I thought you two might be able to help, plus we needed talk somewhere we wouldn't be overheard." Ivy explained.

It was true that very few people were eating outside on the outside in February. The outside tables were spread out a lot and luckily Emily and Alicia's was close to the school under the roof.

"We'd love to help. What's the problem?" Alicia asked.

"It's about Romeo, isn't it?" Emily suggested. Julie nodded slowly as if she was admitting defeat.

"I like him! Why the heck do I have to like him?" Julie lightly banged her head against the table.

"He's sweet." Emily suggested.

"He's attractive." Alicia implied.

"He's just as weird as you are." Ivy stated.

"I knew it was his fault." Julie mumbled. Ivy nearly burst into laughter but she succeeded in holding herself together.

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's not a bad thing that you have feelings for Romeo?" Emily suggested. She shrugged. "Maybe it's fate?"

Julie sat straight up. "How could this be a good thing?" She asked, rhetorically.

"Listen, Julie, what you are going through is known as the five stages." Alicia piped up.

"Of grief? But I'm not-"

"No not of grief. The five stages of an unwanted crush." Alicia told the blonde girl. "First, there's realization which is when you realize that you have a crush when you don't want to. Then there's frustration, confusion, denial, and acceptance." Alicia explained. Emily nodded, seemingly having heard of this before.

"It'll go away though... Right?" Julie asked in a nervous tone. The other girls shrugged.

"Maybe." Alicia stated. "If not it's not just a crush."

"Maybe Romeo's your soulmate." Emily suggested, beaming.

Julie shivered in exaggerated horror. "I hope not. I'm just kidding. That soulmate stuff is a load of crap. As if people really have soulmates." She shook her head in doubt.

Emily shrugged. "It could be possible."

"Nope, I don't see any logic behind it." Julie crossed her arms stubbornly.

"I don't get you at all sometimes. You have a crush on this guy but you don't like love and you hate the fact that you have a crush." Ivy shook her head at her best friend.

"I never asked to like him he's just so... So..."

"Charming?" Emily suggested.

"Infuriating." Julie said.

Emily shrugged. "We can't choose who we fall in love with."

Julie's eyes widened. "There is no way that I am or ever will be in love with Romeo Cameron!" She stood up to make her statement. She walked away from the table, probably to find a way to turn off her feelings.

"Total denial," Alicia rolled her eyes and shook her head.