(Bakersville Elementary 2001)***“You will be doing your elementary school Science Fair Project in pairs,” Mrs. Berry said. There were mixed reactions in the class. Some people were excited. Others, not so much.Emily was excited. It didn’t matter who she got as a partner, she was excited about doing the science fair project. She already had an idea in mind.“Do we get to choose our partners?” a student asked, and everyone quieted down. This was the most important part. A ‘yes’ from Mrs. Berry meant the world to the elementary school class. it would mean they could choose their crushes. It meant their dreams could come true. Mrs. Berry had the rare and unique chance of being Cupid. Would she take it?The air was thick with anticipation. Everyone was holding their breath. Well, almost everyone. Emily didn’t care much for crushes. She didn’t have one, and she was sure no one had a crush on her as well.“No,” Mrs. Berry said and the class deflated with disappointment.Mrs. Berry smiled

EMILY***This is not what I had planned. I shouldn’t have allowed my desire for revenge to take over. I regretted it as soon as I said it, not only because I was dragging Harry into my drama with Gabriel, but also because Gabriel seemed unaffected by the news. I had a feeling he knew I was lying. It pissed me off all the more that he knew but he chose to play along.What pissed me off even more, though, was the fact that when he was asked if he was dating he said no. He didn’t play along. He didn’t try to pretend the way I was. It was like he was uninterested, unbothered. But the Gabriel I knew was not the type to be upstaged. I had hit him where it hurt. It’s not that he wasn’t affected. It’s that he was coming up with a strategy.I could tell by the way he got silent for the rest of the dinner. I could almost hear his brain turning. As soon as we waved them goodbye I ran up to my room. I needed to text Harry. I paced around my room. What was I even going to say? How would I bring i

GABRIEL***“Glad you could make it,” I said to Harry as he sat down across from me. He’d asked to meet at a coffee shop off campus. He didn’t seem happy to be here. Emily must have told him about what happened between us. I didn’t blame him, though, that he’d chosen to take Emily’s side over mine. It made sense. I would just have to plead my case. “Make it quick,” he said.He was acting hostile, probably because of what Emily told him about me but I needed to make sure that he felt that I was genuine. It was going to have to be Emily’s words over mine. “I told you when we first met, that Emily and I have been best friends since kindergarten,” I said.“I remember that, yes,” he said. I could tell he was getting irritated. I needed to choose my words carefully, to make sure he didn’t feel threatened by me. “We’re not best friends anymore. I’m sure she’s told you that. I hurt her so many times and our friendship ended completely when she moved here. It’s all my fault.”Harry’s face

EMILY***“I’m genuinely happy for you. You deserve to be happy. And I'm genuinely sorry.”I couldn’t stop thinking about Gabriel's words. He had called me two days ago after he'd met with Harry. and he had proved me wrong. Apparently, he'd met with Harry to apologize for the misunderstanding that he'd caused and he hoped that the three of us could interact peacefully from that point on.I felt like he was lying, like this was just another scheme of his but my conversation with Harry had given me much to think about. I called him after the call with Gabriel."Hey," I said."Hey, he responded, "I'm on my way back to school. I just met with Gabriel."I liked that he went straight to the point so that I didn't have to. I had been a bit worried that he would have taken it badly if I was the one who brought up Gabriel. I didn't want him to think that I cared."Oh, really?" I asked, deciding to act clueless, "how'd it go?""Quite well, actually. He apologized for lying about the both of you

EMILY***“Do you mind?” Nila asked.“Sorry,” I said, getting up from my desk. I had been bouncing my knee and it didn’t even occur to me that I was. It must have been irritating Nila and she just couldn’t take it anymore.I had gone to my desk to try and read but I couldn't focus on anything. My mind was still on the day that should have been my first date with Harry. He was going to say yes, that they knew each other, right? Why did he change his mind after she said they didn’t? I wished there was a witness, someone aside from me and them that was there to confirm to me that I was not crazy.I had wanted to ask him since then but I didn't know how to bring it up or how he would take it. Our relationship was fairly new and I didn't know how he would take me asking if he knew some girl that he clearly said he didn’t, a girl I didn't even know myself.But was it really clear? I didn’t know. I sighed and made my way to my bed. Pretending to read wasn’t doing me any good. Even Gabriel ha