chapter 3

Sadie, my twin, was not as obsessed as I was.

"Wow," little Sadie had commented on my masterpiece, or so I called it. We were eleven at the time. I glanced at her, then felt my eyes tugged towards the paper once more.

It was a drawing of Dex on a piece of my valuable thick sketching paper. However, I felt like my "beautiful" drawing didn't do Dex justice, so I began to cry. Tears slipped down my face in rivers, splashing onto my dress and bare arms.

"Wow," Sadie repeated, rolling her eyes.

That wasn't even the worst of it.

When I was twelve, I was best friends with the cutest guy in school, Peter. On a cold winter morning, he came up to me in the hallway.

"Eve," he grabbed my hand as I was about to go to class, "please wait. I need to talk to you,"

"Yes, Peter?" I was a little annoyed, if he kept me here I was going to be late for class. Peter seemed nervous, looking around anxiously. I softened at his expression and touched his warm hand, "What is it, Peter?"

“Will you go out with me?" he rushed, words tumbling out at once. I was stunned. Peter LIKED me? But...

"Peter..." I said, uncomfortable, "You are the best friend I've ever had, but I don't like you like that,"

Peter's eyes crinkled. He seemed to be in pain.

"Eve... you are so weird!" he blurted out, "You don't LIKE like anyone. I thought you might like me since you talk to me all the time but I guess I was wrong." He reached forward and grabbed my shoulders, "I don't understand Eve. I know you would tell me if you really liked someone, but I've never heard anything from you. All my other girl friends talk about guys all the time. Eve, do you like someone?"

"Yes," the dooming word escaped my mouth. Peter looked like he had been slapped. Not saying a single word, he walked away. I raced to him, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Peter!" I cried. He turned slowly, his face like stone. "Can we still be best friends?"

"Don't you get it?" Peter said sharply, "That's not enough for me anymore,"

He left me in the hallway, a flood of tears cascading from me.

It was Dex's fault.

I had never noticed Peter as a guy that I could go out with. To me, he was always just a friend. I hadn't really looked at any other guys either. Why was that?

It was my obsession with Dex. He had obliterated all of my possible love interests, only leaving him to dream about. I knew that if Dex didn't exist, I would have probably gone out with Peter. He was a very handsome guy, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. All the girls liked him, so I would probably be really popular also.

Now, all because Dex existed, I lost my best friend and a possible social status, and for what?

A crush on Dex that would come to nothing. At that very instant, I hated Dex for ruining my life. Instead of love, disdain filled me, blossoming in my chest.