He Never Noticed

By Akemi Murase a.k.a. Emily

“You still don’t get it, do you?”

Ben looked up at the blue eyed girl in front of him. “Get what?”

Emily sighed. “Aren’t you supposed to be smart? It’s been going on for, like, two years. Not to mention how obvious it’s been now that I know.” She rolled her eyes and tipped her head in that strange way she does. “Of course, you are friends with Patrick and Scott. Not to mention a lot of other ‘smart’ people, and quite frankly, their all idiots. All they really know is math, science, history, etcetera, etcetera. They don’t know anything outside of books and I guess you don’t either.”

Ben raised his eyebrow that enhanced the classic look on his face that showed he was questioning, not only what she was talking about, but also her sanity.

“Ugh! Don’t give me that ‘you’re crazy’ look! You can’t have not noticed! I swear, every time you pass by a group of girls, at least one of them swoon or sigh. Really loudly. And then, all they can think about is how great you look, how nice you are, how you must be smart. It makes me want to puke! But this is just too much when you don’t notice the most obvious of them all!" Emily was gesturing wildly, probably the Italian blood in her coming through. “Not to mention the fact that ever since I found out, the whole school pretty much knows. Except you. The supposedly smart one.”

“Ok, I give up. What are you talking about?” Ben said.

Emily looked like she was going to strangle him for a second, then relaxed. “About one third of the female student body has a crush on you. At least one person from each clique has or had a crush on you. And, the one girl in my clique who has a crush on you couldn’t be more obvious and you still don’t notice. It’s sad. Really, really sad.”

“What? Who here has a crush on me?” Ben was, to be honest, quite surprised. He got all A’s and hung out with not-so-popular people. Not to mention he liked to read and figure out puzzles of any sort. One of his favorites was the Rubix Cube.

“Well, in this room there’s Meghan, Rachel, Sara and Lauran. And yes, I know you haven’t talked to them in your life, but you’re sweet and they know it. Girls like sweet guys. And they think you’re shy, which makes them like you even more.” Emily stated a matter-o-factly. Did we mention she had this weird thing where she knows what you’re thinking, even if you don’t say it? It’s one of the reasons people avoid her. “But none of them are the completely obvious one. In fact, you have actually talked to her and had a real conversation with her. And if you still don’t know who it is, then you’re hopeless.”

Just as she finished, the bell rang and she walked out of class. Ben gave her one last questioning look, and then left. Then, he thought about last year. He was sorta friends with Jessica, then, but they didn’t really talk anymore. He began listing through some more girls it could be, and as he did, he didn’t notice his old sorta-friend Jessica staring at him and smiling. Nor did he see Emily walk up to her and smack her upside the head and say that she was obsessed. He never noticed that after lunch, Jessica would stare right into his classroom, looking directly at him, whileKeeli and Erica went through their lockers. He never noticed Emily giving her the same talk she gave him in class that one day. And he never acknowledged the fact that she could like him, because he would be walking past her locker, staring at her. And she never noticed, because she was staring at him.

Author's Note: This story is based on real people and real events. Jessica is my best friend, and she will kill me when she sees this. It is still unknown whether Ben feels the same way abouther as she does him, but I have caught him staring at her a few times. In the story, I decided to humor myself and make my character physic, because I always joke around with people like that, when really, I can read people’s faces pretty well and can find basic information on people easily. Also, I just wrote this for fun, so it's not very good. Oh well, hope you enjoy:) P.S. R&R please!