Why I Hate You

Summary: Crystal Swanson hates Jason Andrew more than anything. And when her mother announces her engagement to Jason's father, Crystal cannot believe her rotten luck. Nothing is much worse than being related to the guy you most hate, and the guy who ruined your life. And when, Crystal and Jason are thrown together a lot of times, and Crystal realizes that maybe she doesn't really hate Jason that much. And they'll discover the reason why they hate each other.

A/N: here I am again!!! *grin* hope you like this one better than the last! Hehehehehe. Well, I'll be gone for the next five days so I hope when I get back, I'll see lots of reviews!!!

+read, enjoy, review+

Prologue – The Matter of Crushes

Crystal Swanson giggled as her crush, Cooper Wilkins walked past her. One of his friends, Jason Andrews frowned at her but continued walking. Crystal watched longingly and sighed. "I can't believe he doesn't even notice I'm alive," she muttered.

Her best friends Alette Pierson and Mary Sales both smiled at her sympathetically. "Don't worry, Crys," Alette soothed. "I'm sure he does. Why don't you ask him out?"

"Not on your life," Crys scoffed, shaking her head vigorously. Alette had been coaxing her into asking him out, but she just couldn't do it. Of course, Alette would say something like that. After all, Alette was pretty confident when it came to asking guys out. She was the exact meaning of modern and liberal woman who got exactly what she wanted.

"Why not?" Alette asked clutching her books. A guy walked past them and he looked at Alette, and when she smiled back at him, he blushed deeply.

Mary sighed. "God, Alette, asking guys out is your thing. Did you see that? It's proof that guys swoon whenever they see you."

Alette laughed heartily. "You flatter me," she said, placing a hand over her heart and batting her eyelashes.

"That's why it's hard to be around you," Crys joked pretending to scowl at Alette. "You're beautiful and you know it, and the guys know it. That's why when some guy strikes your fancy, you immediately ask him out and he says yes. They all do."

"Will you stop it?" Alette scolded her. "I'm not beautiful, you and Mary are. And they don't always say yes." The trio stepped inside the bio lab, and took their seats. Mary and Crystal sat together, while Alette sat beside Gavin Toney, her latest boyfriend.

Crystal watched as Alette and Gavin kissed and she imagined what it would be like to kiss Cooper. The guy was gorgeous! He was so cute even though he was very quiet during class, not that they had much class together. Just one. Algebra.

"I wish he sat next to me during Algebra," Crystal whispered to Mary.

Mary glanced sideways at Crystal. "What would you say?"

Crystal shrugged. She smiled sheepishly. "I don't know. I get pretty shy around guys, especially guys I've been crushing on since forever. I just wish he'd notice me, and then, maybe I could speak up."

"He'll notice you," Mary said confidently. "You're an ace in Algebra. He'll see what a great person you are."

"Yeah right," Crystal muttered. "He'll see what a complete dork I am."

Crystal settled in her seat to listen to Mr. Tolentino talk about the life span of an angiosperm. Halfway through the lesson, she was already lost in her daydream. She was at the point of kissing Cooper (in her mind) when Mary elbowed her. Crystal snapped out of her daydream and glared at Mary, who made a face at her.

"We're doing frogs today," Mary explained, sticking her tongue out. "Gross."

Gross was an understatement. Cutting the frog was way hard, and when Crystal and Mary managed to cut their frog across the stomach, a cluster of eggs came rushing out.

"Augh," Mary muttered, pinching her nose.

"Gross!" Crystal exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the frog. "Is it still breathing?"

On closer inspection, they saw that the heart was indeed still beating. Mr. Tolentino clapped his hands, and invited the rest of the class to look at the butchered frog whose heart was still beating.

"Good work, girls," he praised, beaming.

When he turned his back away from them, and moved on to help the other students, Mary leaned in closer to Crystal. "What do you say we stuff this down Cooper's throat, and force him to profess his undying love for you?"

Crystal pushed her playfully on the shoulder. "I'm not that desperate!"

"Yeah?" Mary asked, raising both eyebrows in mock surprise. "I could've sworn…"

Crystal pinched Mary's nose. "You're such a known-it-all!"

Mary laughed.

They went on working with the frog. It wasn't long before the class was over, and everyone cleaned up to remove the frog smell of their clothes (despite the apron). Crystal's other classes were satisfactory, except maybe during Algebra when Cooper just walked past her. He sat way behind her and Crystal's heart plummeted down when he didn't even look at her.

Pushing him at the back of her mind, and closing her eyes for a moment, she would've seen Jason shaking his head at her.

Class was finally over and Crystal bounded out of her last classroom for the day. She didn't share the Cooper episode with her friends because there really wasn't anything worth sharing.

"I'll see you," Crystal called as Mary stepped in her father's car. Mary waved at her, and the car roared off. Alette had gone off with Gavin, doing God knows what. As for her, she was ready to go home, where maybe she could stop thinking about Cooper.

Speaking of Cooper, he was at the parking leaning against his jeep when he suddenly waved at her. Crystal stopped short. She looked behind her just to make sure it was really her he was waving at. She waved back.

He grinned at her as he jogged over. "Want a ride?"

He's even cute up close, Crystal thought smiling. She weighed her options: her house wasn't more than a ten-minute walk away. Should she get in the car with him? What would she say? Then the words 'seize the day' echoed in her mind. She shrugged and said, "Sure why not."

Cooper chuckled. "I heard you walk everyday."

"That's right. My house is pretty close by," Crystal replied smiling. "I get pretty tired of it though. I mean, imagine we're going to stay here for the next two and a half years, until I graduate high school. That's like four years of walking everyday."

"Maybe I should come to your rescue more often," he said grinning at her. "So you won't get tired of having to walk all the time."

Crystal laughed nervously. "Nah, that's okay. I don't want to be a nuisance to you."

Cooper reached over and held open the car door for her. "You're not that, you know," he whispered at she stepped in. "Never a nuisance," he added as he closed the car door.

Crystal took deep breaths as Cooper went around the front. As he slid in the car, she smiled at him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime," he said as he revved up the engine. He backed out the parking lot, and turned left. Seeing the look on her face, he said matter-of-factly, "I've seen you walk everyday. I think I know where you live."

"Isn't that spying?" she asked pointedly.

"Would you think it's spying?" Cooper asked glancing over at her.

Crystal laughed. "Just as long as you're not looking in any bathroom windows," she kidded, closing her eyes, and leaning back on the seat.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," he remarked thoughtfully.

"Hey!" Crystal exclaimed, her eyes flying open. "Is there something I should know?"

"Just joking," Cooper immediately said. They reached a stoplight and Cooper looked at her, "You want to go to the mall? Just hang a bit?"

Oh my God! Is this a date? He's finally asking me out! Crystal could barely control her urge to kiss him. He was so cute!

"Sure why not? I'm getting tired of the house, anyway," she heard herself say.

"Don't say that," Cooper scolded her lightly. "You're still going to stay there for up until you graduate," he explained.

"Oh yes, don't remind me," Crystal said nodding. "Have you lived here your whole life?"

He nodded. "Yup. That's why when I saw you, I immediately wanted to ask you out. You were new, different." He sounded so sincere.

Crystal was quiet. She couldn't trust herself to speak. What do you do if your crush practically admitted that he liked you back?

"Crystal?"

"Hmm?"

Cooper took a deep breath. "I like you a lot."

Was this the right time to talk about our feelings, while driving? Crystal thought helplessly. But hearing him finally admit that he liked her, well, it was enough to make her deliriously happy.

She sighed and looked at him, looking at the road. "Funny you should say that," she began in her most confident voice. "I could say I feel the same way."

They reached the mall, and Crystal felt she was on Cloud 9. Cooper was definitely a great guy! He was really nice to her, and they ended up spending the rest of the afternoon together, even though for about thirty minutes, they spent with his friends (but hey, who's counting?)

She didn't know what was up but it was like they were acting weird. Cooper kept a straight face but his friend, Jason, was so close to cracking up. It was past seven when Crystal realized she had to go home.

"That's too bad," Cooper mumbled. "I had fun."

"Me too," Crystal replied smiling. Suddenly she froze. Cooper was leaning towards her, his eyes half-closed. And she moved forward. My crush is going to kiss me!

But at the last moment, he pulled back. "Um, I guess we better go."

Crystal nodded blindly. What just happened?

Less than fifteen minutes, she was home, leaning against the front door. Cooper never even tried to kiss her again back in the car. It was so weird. Was it a date? Or what? She decided to call Mary and Alette. There were so many questions in her mind. And little did she know, they would all be answered the next day at school.

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What do you think??? J Please review!!! (so I'll post the next chapter!)