ra sits in the same seat everyday in science class, pining over Sav. And yet he never realizes it; he just sits there with his girlfriend hanging all over him. The only person Tara tells anything to is her best friend Hope. Hope is 16 with curly blonde hair, green eyes and a birthmark in the shape of a crown on her right arm. Hope is the picture of perfection but she doesn’t realize it, she is not concerned with her looks. She is happy just the way that she is and doesn’t care what the popular kids in the school think about her, even though she could easily fit in with them… if she was superficial and completely self-centered. But instead she hangs out with Tara, a shorter than most girls, brunette with pale blue eyes and nothing special about her. She blends in with the crowd at times but Hope never does, she stands out everywhere she goes. Tara and her sisters, Andrea and Callie, go to Orchard Academy in Pineapple Springs, California. Orchard Academy is a very large school for such a small town. It has over 3200 dorms and 140 classrooms with classes ranging from English to music to scuba diving. It also has some small shops around the campus, such as the K Café, a little coffee shop with antique French doors and pale green walls. It is a popular weekend hang-out for the students of Orchard Academy. Out of all the classes Tara has, she has one class with her best friend, sisters, and crush. This class is Mr.Thornsburgh 3rd period science class and everyday Tara dreads it.Of course at the beginning of every science class they would answer the question of the day and then Mr.Thornsburgh would occasionally pair everyone off into their lab partners. “Well today we are going to be doing an experiment. We will be creating sticky tack from water, paper, and glue,” Said Mr.Thornsburgh. “Mr.Thornsburgh, Can we have NEW partners? The same people just stop working after so long,” Said Hope. “Although the comment wasn’t appreciated Miss Montgomery, next time please raise your hand. But picking new partners is a good idea,” Said Mr.Thornsburgh as he started to pass out little slips of paper to all of the girls. “Please write you name on the paper and bring it to the front of the room. Then each of the males will pick a name and you must read the name aloud. No switching partners. We will not be picking new partners for the rest of the year… So chose wisely,” Said Mr.Thornsburgh sternly.
One by one everyone in the class was paired off until all that was left was Hope, Tara, Sav, and Leyland; Sav’s best friend. Tara had a 50/50 chance of being paired with her crush but she knew that would never happen. Leyland was next to choose, as he picked the name out of the hat Tara gathered her books and said congratulations to Hope. But to her surprise Leyland did not pull her name but instead he pulled Hope’s name and Tara was partnered with Sav, the man of her dreams. The one thing that Tara had never figured out was guys. She could figure out that hardest math problems and write the most complex papers on applied physics but she couldn’t get guys. This was not a very good thing when she found out that Sav had broken up with his girlfriend and that he was on the market. She had never anticipated Sav becoming single, especially not while they were still in high school. The minute the school found out that Sav was single every girl was hanging all over him like he was the most perfect guy in the world and they were soul mates. At first it didn’t really bother Tara until Andrea and Callie, who Tara hated, started hanging all over him. {Andrea and Callie were Tara’s archenemies.} Andrea kept moving closer and closer to Sav but Callie seemed to be backing off, not wanting to invade her older sister’s space and end up having to hang out with Tara. It would be social suicide. Everyday Andrea would try to get Mr.Thornsburgh to partner her with Sav but he wouldn’t do it. He kept to his word that they weren’t allowed to switch partners. Once, Andrea was snooping through Tara’s things when she found a letter that Tara had written years before about how much she liked Sav. Tara had intended for the letter to just show up on Sav’s door one day but it never happened. It just sat in her room day after day, staring at her like a missed opportunity that was still in front of her. Andrea, being the sneak that she is, decided to read the letter, finding out about Tara’s massive crush on Sav and hatched a plan to make Tara’s life miserable… one way or another. “Tara, you know how much we love you. Right?” Andrea had interrupted her train of thought and was actually scaring her. “What do you want, Andrea?” asked Tara
“Well as you know Sav recently broke up with his girlfriend and I just think that I would be the perfect replacement!” said Andrea. “So… what do you want?” asked Tara yet again.
“I want you to stay away from him. I know that you like him and that you were planning on asking him out but now that you know that he is mine you should just back off,” said Andrea becoming more aggravated with each word she said.
“You know she is right and you never had a chance with him. I mean he is the captain of the football team and what are you? A nobody, a nothing, a complete and total outcast,” said Callie as she snapped out of her daze. “I have more of a chance with him than you ever would,” Tara said suddenly.
“Oh yeah, you want to try me?” asked Andrea abruptly. “As a matter of fact I would. You have ‘til Friday of next week to get Sav to ask you out or you stay out of my life forever,” said Tara. “And if I win?” asked Andrea. “I never try to get Sav and I stay out of your life forever,” said Tara pulling the first thing that came to mind. “And…”said Andrea impatiently
“And…I’ll switch lab partners with you” said Tara regretting her words. “Well I guess. I mean when I win, and I will win, I get you out of my life and I get to be Sav’s lab partner,” said Andrea with of hint of excitement. Friday grew nearer and nearer and neither Tara nor Andrea had been asked out by Sav yet, but they sure were trying. Andrea’s tactics were a bit harsh but they seemed to be affective, she was basically throwing herself at Sav. Tara had a less affective plan but it wasn’t making her look bad, she just talked to him and dropped a couple of hints. Sav was not as smart as she had thought; he never caught on to the fact that Tara liked him but he was obviously falling for Andrea; and fast. Tara dreaded each day of the following week… she had spent a week of her time trying to get Sav to ask her but he clearly was going to ask out Andrea. Monday in science class Sav asked if Tara would ask Andrea out for him because he “Knew they were sisters.” Obviously Tara said no but not before pretending to consider the fact that is she said yes it might make Sav like her more. This fact ran through Tara’s mind day after day once she said no to Sav but she knew that if she had said yes she would have to admit defeat to Andrea. All she had to do was wait two days and see if Sav would ask Andrea out. This wasn’t very likely. By Thursday Tara was so scared that she almost asked Sav out just so that Andrea didn’t get the satisfaction of winning but she couldn’t do it. Over the past week she had only said a few words to Sav and she knew that she would never gain the courage to ask him out. By the time Tara made it to science class she was about to cry and admit defeat to Andrea, who seemed strangely ecstatic. Tara knew something was up and she knew Andrea had something that would change the whole competition, she just didn’t know what. The entire period that they had science class passed before Andrea came over to talk to Tara and Sav in their “lab.” “Hey! Sav, I was just wondering if you could give me a minute with Tara. We have some sister things to talk about...” Andrea said hesitantly. “Sure I guess I could but don’t take too long, sweetie,” Said Sav. “Thanks muffin,” said Andrea as Sav stared to walk out of class. “So here’s the deal…as you can tell Sav and I are now dating and I have won the competition… but I want you to know that I don’t want to switch lab partners with you. As you know Sav isn’t very smart and you can’t have two people in a group that don’t do any work. So you just keep up the “group” work between you and Sav while I do nothing in class. Just like my new boyfriend…” said Andrea overconfidently. “To be honest with you I didn’t really follow what you just said but I get that you are dating Sav and you don’t want to be his lab partner. I didn’t get why but I don’t want you to explain it to me again. Just go and hang-out with your”boyfriend” who doesn’t say anything about y-o-u!” said Tara as she became aggravated.

Tara thought long and hard about how Andrea got Sav to ask her out and came to the conclusion that Andrea had asked him out and had cheated at the competition. Just the simple thought of Andrea cheating on something made Tara feel a way that she hadn’t felt much before; happy. Tara knew her happiness wouldn’t last very long. Each step Tara took away from the science room the farther she got from her conclusion… and the closer she got to Andrea and Callie’s dorm.