Matthew Spencer.  The words rolled around in Rachael's head as she stared at him from the back seat of her classroom.  She wondered if he even knew who she was.  He was the guy that all the girls in the grade were in love with.  Tall, olive skinned, strong and quietly confident Matthew was good at everything he did.  He was High jump champion of the school and a regional representative in soccer.  Rachael's mind went round and round.  The maths on the board meant nothing to her at the moment.  She was deeply infatuated with him.

 

"You know he likes Samantha," Rachael's best friend Susan whispered.  Samantha, how Rachael hated that word.  Samantha was envied by all the girls and loved by all the boys.  Barbie-doll looks and a personality that matched ensured that she was never short of a man - usually someone else's.  And last year she had stolen Mike from Rachael, which intensified the animosity between the two girls. 

 

As Rachael thought about this the bell rang.  She sighed to herself, knowing that she wasn't in any of Matthew's classes for the rest of the day.  She packed up her books and trudged out the door, barely a few meters behind her crush.

 

"Hi Rachael," a voice came from down the hall.  It was Jeff.  Now Jeff was a real nice guy.  But Rachael did not want to see him now.  Jeff, you see, was "in love" with Rachael and had written her love letters.  Rachael on the other hand felt nothing for Jeff.  Back before he revealed his feelings for her, Jeff and Rachael had been good friends, but nothing more and now that he wanted more Rachael felt both sad and frustrated.  Sad that she didn't feel the same way he did, and frustrated at his advances, which were becoming quite annoying.

 

"Hi Jeff," she returned the greeting, only half turning towards him.

 

"Hey have you heard of the new band 'Greenday'?" Jeff asked.

 

"Nah, who are they?"  Rachael replied.

 

"Oh, they're a huge band from the 'States and are a bit like the Offspring," Jeff eagerly responded.  By this stage Rachael knew exactly where this conversation was going and she didn't like it at all.

 

"Listen Jeff I have to go or I'll be late for class," Rachael tried to sidestep what was coming.  She failed.

 

"Oh, ok, but before you go I have tickets to see them, did you want to come?"

 

"No not this time, anyway I have to go," Rachael said.  The truth was she did want to go and see them, but not with Jeff.  She really did not like rejecting him and felt a little guilty when she did, but he really was becoming annoying.

 

With that Rachael walked off after Susan.  As she turned the corner she saw him.  It was Matthew Spencer in the flesh.  Rachael's heart broke and she nearly burst into tears right there and then, for he was leaning over Samantha at her locker, barely inches from her face and she was loving it.  Fighting back tears, Rachael trotted off to her own locker.

 

To be continued...