Rachel's Valentine Crush Read online

  “I have a secret

  It’s hidden in my heart”

  Everything else seemed to disappear—the screaming crowd, the flashing lights, the roving cameras, the glowing Jumbotrons. Rachel was only aware of Brody and his music.

  “And it’s only getting bigger

  Since we have been apart”

  About halfway through the song Brody started walking down the stairs that were on the side of the stage. There was complete silence in the arena as Brody stopped in front of Rachel and their eyes locked. Nothing else mattered. It was just Rachel and Brody, the way it was always meant to be.

  Then Brody reached out his hand to Rachel and sang:

  “And when I think about you

  Girl, I know that you’re the one”

  Brody kept singing as he led Rachel onto the stage. Rachel blinked several times as she tried to adjust to the blinding brightness of the spotlights. When they reached center stage, the music stopped. In the silence, Brody offered something to Rachel: a cluster of green lollipops, tied up like a bouquet of flowers. He leaned close to the microphone and said, clearly, “I’ll always save the green L-O-Ls for you.”

  Rachel recognized the lollipops right away, of course. They were LOL Pops—the same ones from choir practice! And if the writing hadn’t rubbed off the wrapper of the green one Brody had given her last year, the very same one that was now in her scrapbook, Rachel might have figured out the clue days ago. As Rachel accepted the bouquet of LOL Pops, Brody grinned and sang:

  “I think about the best times

  Making music together

  And how much I miss you

  Want to hold your hand forever”

  Then he tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows as he held the microphone out to Rachel! Rachel knew what he was asking her to do. And, strangely enough, she didn’t feel a bit nervous, even though she knew that millions of people were watching. After all, hadn’t Rachel already sung those very lines about a thousand times?

  Rachel paused, took a deep breath, and sang right into the microphone:

  “Maybe it’s crazy

  To feel the way I do”

  Brody moved his head close to hers so that they could sing the final words together.

  “But you’re my secret crush

  And I hope you like me, too”

  As the last notes faded away, the crowd went wild! Their screams were deafening as glittery confetti rained down from the ceiling, sending sparkling reflections dancing around the arena.

  Rachel and Brody stood together in the middle of the stage, waving at the crowd. She glanced at Brody out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was looking at her. Smiling at her—and only her. What she felt then, Rachel knew, would be impossible to put into words, even in her scrapbook. It was like a dazzling explosion of light and color and pure joy; like fireworks for her heart.

  As the spotlights began to dim, Rachel and Brody shared a smile that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

  The concert may have been over, but for Rachel and Brody, it was only the beginning!

  Here’s a sneak peek at the next book in the series:

  Isabella likes Ryan.

  Does he like her too?

  Isabella’s Spring Break Crush

  ISABELLA CLARK POKED AT HER salad with a plastic fork. Normally she loved talking with her friends at lunchtime, but today it was just making her depressed.

  “And our resort has its own private beach,” her friend Amanda was saying. She was practically jumping up and down in her seat as she talked. “So we can just walk out of the hotel and right onto the beach. And the temperature there right now is eighty degrees! Isn’t that awesome? I am so tired of the cold.”

  “And the snow,” added Jasmine, glancing toward the nearby window. Mounds of winter snow were piled up in the middle school parking lot and along the walkway. Icicles dripped from the bare tree branches. Snowflake flurries swirled around in the freezing wind.

  “It’s Chicago. It’s supposed to be cold in winter,” Isabella said, repeating something her dad said often. It never really made her feel better to hear it, though. She loved the summer when she didn’t have to bundle up every day. The summer sun just made everything feel happier.

  “Well, I love the snow,” said Lilly. With her white-blond hair and blue eyes, Isabella always thought she looked like some kind of snow princess from a fairy tale. “I can’t believe we’re finally going skiing in Colorado! It’s going to be awesome.”

  Jasmine frowned. “We’re not going far at all. Mom’s taking us to the Buffalo Lodge. It’s kind of lame, but at least they have an indoor pool.”

  Amanda turned to Isabella. “So are you guys doing anything?”

  Isabella sighed. “You know we never do. My dad says this year I can help out in his office and make some extra money.”

  “That’s pretty lame too,” Lilly remarked, and Amanda shot her a look. “I don’t mean that Bella’s lame. I mean her dad is lame, you know, for making her work.”

  “It’s okay,” Isabella replied glumly. “You’re right. It is lame.”

  “It’s not all that bad,” Amanda said, trying to cheer her up. “That way you can buy those great earrings we saw at Sparks.”

  “Yeah,” Isabella said, and then she started poking at her salad again. Amanda was supersweet, and a great best friend. But nothing she said could get Isabella out of her mood.

  It just wasn’t fair! She was pretty sure that her family was the only one in the whole school who didn’t go anywhere during spring break. Things got complicated for the Clarks during this time of year.

  For one thing, even though it was “spring break,” it still felt like winter in Chicago. Isabella’s mom was a pediatrician, and this time of year she was bombarded with kids coming down with the flu.

  And it’s not like her dad could take them anywhere. Mr. Clark was an accountant, which meant he had to help dozens of people do their taxes before April 15. So he couldn’t leave his job either.

  “We’ll make it up to you in the summer,” her mom always said, and it was true—they always went on a nice vacation in the summer. But their last vacation was a distant memory now, and in two weeks all she had to look forward to was filing folders in her dad’s office as she watched the snow fall outside.

  “Well, the week goes by fast anyway,” said Amanda.

  Jasmine was scrolling on her phone. “Hey, I forgot that Buffalo Lodge has horseback riding! Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.”

  Lilly leaned in and lowered her voice. “Okay. If you could go on spring break with any boy in our class, who would it be?”

  “That’s easy. Colin Hancock,” Jasmine replied. “He’s so cute.”

  “No way!” Lilly squealed. “I was going to pick him!”

  “Well, I think I would want to go with Brian Bender,” Amanda said a little shyly.

  “Him? He’s so nerdy!” Jasmine said.

  “That’s why I like him,” Amanda replied.

  Lilly turned to Isabella. “What about you?”

  Isabella shrugged. “I don’t really know.” Which was true. She had never had a real crush on a boy yet. Sure, there were some nice, cute boys in her class, but she would never think of like, dating any of them. “Besides, it doesn’t matter, because I’m not going on spring break anyway.”

  Finally the lunch bell rang. Isabella was glad the conversation was over, but she still couldn’t stop thinking about break.

  I’ll keep working on Mom and Dad, she plotted, as she gathered up her books for her afternoon classes. There has to be some way to save spring break!

  Angela Darling was nicknamed “The Love Guru” by her friends in school because she always gave such awesome advice on crushes. And Angela’s own first crush worked out pretty well . . . they have been married for almost ten years now!

  When Angela isn’t busy reading romance novels, she works as an editor in New York City. She knows deep down that every story c
an’t possibly have a happy ending, but the incurable romantic in her can’t help but always look for the silver lining in every cloud.

  LOOK FOR MORE CRUSH BOOKS AT YOUR FAVORITE STORE!

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Text by Ellie O’Ryan

  Designed by Dan Potash

  Jacket design by Dan Potash

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2013 by Autumn Whitehurst

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-8640-9 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-8641-6 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-8642-3 (eBook)

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2012956185