Love, Ali

Chapter 1

Could I have been wrong? Was my dream of ever becoming a jock's girlfriend just a huge fantasy? If that's the case, then maybe it wasn't really meant to be. I mean, what kind of jock would want to go out with a girl like me? Why did I ever think that Luke O'Bannon, the quarterback of the school's prominent football team and also one of the most astute students in the whole school, could end up with me, Alison Iglehart, a glasses-wearing, bookworm who has no coordination whatsoever. But then again, I shouldn't lose hope just yet--oh wait, I forgot he has a girlfriend, Kayleigh Radmacher, the most hated girl in school (but Luke doesn't know that) who's so full of herself that she bosses people around and treats everyone like pets. Because of her, I had to live through all of eighth grade known as 'Alipoop Iglefart'. She's a witch with no heart! I bet that the empty space where her heart is supposed to be in is just filled with darkness and hatred. I still don't know why Luke hasn't figured that out yet, or maybe he knows already but he just doesn't want to ruin his pristine reputation by dumping her because she's the most popular girl in school and everyone thinks that they are so cute together. Yuck.

All I could think about was the ever-so-realistic image of Luke and I together. But my juvenile and ignorant imagination got me in trouble. I was so busy dreaming that I literally drooled on my History book in History class, handled by the most hated teacher in school, Mr. Tabb. He's the History teacher and trust me, he is the cruelest and meanest teacher around. I heard that he totally freaked out in the teacher's lounge because there was no more coffee in the coffee machine. But I can't be so sure because no one tells me anything.

There are three types of people in school. There are the popular people, the unpopular people, and the ones in the middle. I'm considered as unpopular and I totally agree. Normally, people would complain about being in the bottom but I don't mind. Would I want to be popular? Sure. But I don't care about the status quo or as we call it in our school, the 'social climb'. I believe that people shouldn't be judged because of their popularity or lack of it. We are genuinely good people who deserve to live a heathy and happy life surrounded by the people we love and adore. Frankly, I can't stand those people who actually want to go through with the three-types-of-people thing. It's stupid and immature. Don't get me wrong though. There are certain perks to being popular and unbelievably, unpopular.

~~~

As I scurried through the hallways of the school, I try to ignore the reek of desperation that filled the air we breathe. I tried to avoid the evil creatures (popular people) lurking in the halls. I didn't want to bump into their crowd, especially now that everyone's spread out everywhere and there's a 90% chance that we may bump into them. But I shouldn't worry because as soon as they reach the 'Poputable' (popular table), they're technically no harm to us unpopular people.

The popular table is where the popular crowd eats. For us nobodies, it's considered the 'No Man's Land'.

The cafeteria is divided into two areas which are distinguished by a long red line. One is, of course, the popular area where the poputable is located, which is a lot more elevated from the actual ground because of the stage that was built under Kayleigh's supervision, and the other area with normal seats and tables occupied by the rest of the school.

No mere mortal has ever even dared to step foot across the red line. When you do that, it's like breaking a law or the golden rule which in our school is, never to step across the red line. That rule is applied to all the unpopulars. The funny thing is, the teachers don't even care about all this.

So as I make my way to my vandalized locker, avoiding all the crumpled papers being thrown at me, I remember my five rules of survival for this year:

1) Act practically invisible
2) Never approach the populars
3) Don't try so hard to fit in
4) Never do anything stupid that will gain you attention
5) Never raise your hand in class

Thus my number one rule for survival: act practically invisible. It'll be really easy for me to do that, yet I don't remove it from the number one spot because you don't know how easy it is to transition from the bottom to the top in a heartbeat.

You see, I'm a sucker for romance novels, love songs, and even couples kissing by the sidewalk. But I get torn inside just thinking about it because I don't have a love life. I've never actually thought about it until I turned thirteen. You could travel around the world, scavenging for a guy to agree to go out with me but you won't find anyone. You could bribe a guy with a million dollars but he still won't want to go out with a dork like me.

Every day before taking the bus to school, I look in the mirror and wonder why I am who I am. After thinking of a few dozen reasons, I don't look at the mirror anymore when I get home. It's as simple as saying, I'm just not good enough for anyone, especially not for Luke. I've had a major crush on him since the seventh grade and I've been leaving him secret admirer notes in his locker for two months now. I know that it's really cheesy and weird for a girl to send secret admirer notes to a guy when usually, the guy sends secret admirer notes to the girl. But I don't really care. Sending him notes is the only way I can 'talk' to him without choking on my words, sweating like a pig, or saying embarrassing things about myself without even thinking of saying them. But sadly, the only thing I've seen him do with the notes is make paper planes out of them or crumple them to throw at his friends. Don't get me wrong though. Luke is a really nice guy. He gives to charity, he donates money for the school, and once, he helped me up when I slipped and slid all the way down the second floor hallway. That was the only time we actually made eye contact for more than five seconds. But I bet he's forgotten me since.

Luke is every girl's teenage dream. He's the school's football quarterback and he's a member of all academic clubs where he competes in certain geeky competitions along with the other members of the group.

As I open my locker, it screeches and I make the face you make when you taste something sour. I get my Biology book and cradle it in the hook of my arm while I use my other hand to close my locker. Before I enter the classroom, a crumpled paper hits me at the back of my head. I pick it up from the floor, open it, and smoothen it on the wall. It turned out to be one of the secret admirer notes I sent Luke a few days ago. It said:

Dear Luke,

I know you're probably annoyed with all these notes I'm sending you. I just don't know any other way I can talk to you without totally embarrassing myself. I know you can't talk back because you don't know who I am, but that's the way these secret admirer notes work. I promise that one day, I'll finally have the guts to talk to you in person after I get over the fear of actually talking to you, of course.

Love, your secret admirer.

I let out a snort and crumple the paper again. I throw it away from where I was standing and enter the classroom with my back straight, chin up, and hair back.