"Lee..." I groaned into the table I was currently face planting.

"Yes?" She sounded uninterested. We were currently lounging in the back room of an ice cream shop that belonged to Charlie's aunt, and where she would occasionally help to get some extra cash. I did the same when I could, but today I wasn't helping. Today, I was in some pretty deep shit that I needed help to get out of.

Deep shit that goes by the name of Crush.

"Help me."

Charlie sighs, and looks up from her phone. "I don't know what you want me to do, Jus. You have a crush on Leonardo Bracci, good for you. But so does half of the school population."

That didn't make me feel any better. "I know..."

I've been pestering Charlie all morning about my new found crush on Leo, and I could tell she was done with me. But what did she expect? Being single from birth and having crushes on celebrities only makes me inexperienced, and she was the only one who I could turn to for help.

She let out another sigh, then made me lift my head up from the table to look her in the eyes. She gave me a small smile while I pouted in despair. "It's just a crush, girl. It's not the end of the world. It's part of beingba teenager, right? Make the most out of it."

"Lee..." I resisted the urge to add senpai.

She patted my shoulder. "Now go outside and see if you could help behind the counter. Get your mind off this crush business, yeah?"

I nodded. "Okay."

As I left the break room, I grabbed the black apron (that belonged to me through an unspoken rule) hanging by the door with the shop's logo on it, and pulled it on. There were two people working behind the counter, Cherry and Ashton, both college students who had so much chemistry that made me ship them.

"Here to help, Justine?" Ashton asks just as he finished giving a costumer their change.

"Yep." I reply as I held my arms out to the sides.

Cherry looks around the shop, a tray of two banana splits in her hand. Business was a bit slow since it was a Sunday morning. "We're doing doing okay for now, but can you deliver this to number four by the window? I'm gonna take a bathroom break."

"Okay." I shrugged and toom the tray from her.

"Thanks." She grinned and made her way to the back room.

Just as she opened the door, Ashton called out after her, "Lazy!"

Cherry gave him an icy glare, then calmy brushed her hair over one shoulder, before flipping him off and disappearing into the back room. Ashton threw his head back as he let out a loud laugh.

I shook my head with a smile then turned on my heel to deliver the cold treats to whoever ordered them. However, when I spotted the table, I felt like I just devoured the two banana spilts as my stomach went cold. Sitting there was none other than Leonardo Bracci with a pretty girl sitting across from him, both smiling and clearly talking about something very funny.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I almost jumped. I looked over my shoulder at Ashton, who was giving me a worried look. "You okay?"

Seeing as he wasn't carrying anything, I held out the tray to him. "Could you deliver this? I'm suddenly not feeling so well."

He raised a brow at me, then looked to where Leo and pretty girl were seated, then back to me. He lowered his voice as he asked, "Is that your boyfriend?"

That actually made me laugh a little. "Oh, hell no." I shook my head. "No. I just...felt dizzy for a second there."

He wasn't buying it, but he nodded anyway. "Okay. You gonna go home?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright. Take care." He gave me a comforting smile, and gently squeezed my shoulder.

All I could do was nod again and hurry back to the back room with my head down. Charlie looked up from her phone when I entered and asked why I was back so soon, but I didn't answer. I took off my apron, tossed it to one of the chairs and left with Charlie calling after me. I felt like crying, but knew it would be overreacting. It was just a crush. We weren't dating, he wasn't mine in any way shape or form. But damn, it still stung like a bitch.

Why did my crush have to be the most handsome guy at school?

I sighed as I pulled into my drive way and turned off my car's engine. For a second, I just sat there, thinking of all my life decisions that lead to this moment. Then my phone vibrated. It's been doing that since I left the ice cream shop. When I checked it at a stop light, it was from Charlie. She called and texted, probably going crazy with worry.

Feeling sheepish for putting on such a dramatic show, I decided to ease her worry. But the recent text wasn't from her.

😂😂

Now I really wanted to cry.

Of course it was his cousin...

Some people like having crushes, but I don't. I don't like having a crush one bit.

If you are reading this story on any other platform other than Wattpad you are very likely to be at risk of a malware attack. If you wish to read this story in it's original, safe, form, please go to https://novel2u.net/author/awkward_tumbleweed

Thank you.