C Stands for Carnivals, Crushes, and Childishness

Part One

       I liked living in Connecticut where the Fall seemed to begin earlier than in other parts of the country. That's why even though it was technically still summer, my school was having its annual Autumn Carnival this weekend. Everyone in my class was thrilled about it, which surprised me because I thought we were at the age when carnivals were seen as childish. That didn't mean I wasn't excited for it myself; I just had a different reason for it. Tonight, the first night of the event, I was going to confess to my crush of two years, and I was going to ask him out. And if he rejected me, that was fine too. I always wanted to move to New York City with my grandparents.

            The bell rang to dismiss us to our final class of the day. I gathered my books slowly so I could overhear the boys talking about the carnival.  "Yeah, Riley said he was going to be at the carnival when it starts, so I'll be there too," Parker informed the others. He was Riley's best friend, so I could always count on him for any and all knowledge regarding my crush

            He was met with a chorus of complaining. Apparently, no one else would be able to go until later. Riley was very charismatic and as a natural result he was pretty popular. Many of the people in our grade would go out of their way to hang out with him. I smiled to myself, thinking of how easy it would now be to get him alone. This was a rare occasion as it was always difficult to talk to him without at least two of our classmates clustering around us.

            "Eva!" I heard my friend Kristen call to me as I walked down the hall to my biology class. She walked towards me at such a brisk pace that her light brown hair flew out behind her. "Please tell me you are not going to ask Riley to date you." The glare in her blue eyes was so intense that if she had been anyone else I would have been concerned.

            "Not so loud!" I stage whispered. "And first I have to see how he reacts to my confession. Maybe he'll ask me out."

            "It's a bad idea to even tell him you like him." She responded, walking in step beside me. Since she never had her final growth spurt, she had to tilt her head up to meet my eyes.

             "Why shouldn't I tell him? If he likes me back, I'll have a boyfriend. If he doesn't, well I hope no one finds out otherwise I'll be humiliated."

            "Which is why it's a bad idea!" She turned around to face me effectively blocking my path. "He's not going to like you back. He's the most popular guy in our grade and we're just average. I know this from experience. I was in a similar situation in sixth grade, at my old school. Lucky for me I didn't decide to tell my crush that I liked him until a week before we moved here."

            I crossed my arms and covered my chest with the books I was carrying. I didn't have time for her negativity. It didn't matter what had happened a few years ago. "We're going into tenth grade next year. Social rankings will change and people in high school don't care about popularity as much anymore. It's not like we're in living in some teen romance movie from 2005." I moved around her and continued to walk to my class. She wasn't in Biology with me and Mrs. Fellman didn't allow anyone into her class who wasn't on the roll sheet. Just a few more steps and I didn't have to hear her reply.

            Kristen sighed, and said with reluctance, "He's not the sweet boy you think he is. If you could call someone with a temper like that sweet. If I had had a crush on him and then was told what I know, I would probably hate him."

            I stopped before I reached the class door. I knew Riley could have a raging temper when he got angry, but he rarely ever became upset, and everyone has their faults. But Kristen made him sound...evil. "What exactly did you hear? And who even told you?"

            But before she could answer the second bell rang and we both hurried into our classrooms.