Cassie's Crush by Fiona Foden Page A

Leech.
    â€œNow,” Mr Bowman added, “I’d be grateful if you two could stop your chitter-chatter and keep your minds on your work.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Ollie said cheekily. “So, we’ll have the fire then,” he hissed moments later, “on the beach? About six-ish?”
    I saw Sam nodding. The beach, I thought. Well, I just so happened to have no prior engagements at six-ish today. Perhaps I might happen to casually wander down there too and see what was going on. I wouldn’t normally hang out at the shore in the middle of winter, but suddenly, it seemed a pretty appealing thing to do. Luckily, Marcia and Evie thought so too.
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    By the time I’d had dinner, told Mum I was going round to Marcia’s and caught the bus down to the seafront, it was already dark. Evie and Marcia were waiting, all giggly and excited (Marcia had told her mum she was meeting Evie, which was true, sort of … and that was OK ’cause Evie doesn’t burn tennis tops).
    â€œLook what I’ve got,” Marcia sniggered, pulling some binoculars out of her bag.
    â€œWhere d’you find those?” I asked.
    â€œThey’re my granddad’s bird-watching ones.”
    â€œBrilliant,” I said, taking them from her and peering down at the sand. All I could see was an old man walking his dog.
    â€œNo,” she said, “they’re over there, way past the rocks. Look! See the fire?”
    I swivelled around and, sure enough, there was a flickering orangey glow by the broken old beach huts in the distance. “Shall we go?” Marcia asked.
    â€œCourse!” I said, starting to feel a little less brave. I was freezing too. The waves were churning and a sharp wind was whipping up from the sea.
    â€œLooks like there’s a whole load of them,” Evie said, squinting into the distance. “D’you think it’ll be OK to just turn up?”
    â€œIt’s a beach, isn’t it?” I retorted, trying to muster some courage. “You don’t need to be invited to a beach, do you? It’s everyone’s. Come on.”
    Even so, I was starting to regret coming up with this plan as we crept along the seafront. The glow became brighter and we could see a whole pile of boys messing about around the bonfire. They must’ve spent ages collecting driftwood to burn. I could make out Joey with his carroty hair, and Sam and Daniel Herring dribbling a football on the sand. At first there was no sign of Ollie. Stalking Paul was there – I hoped he hadn’t mentioned my imaginary boyfriend, not that they’d be talking about me , of course – and a few others I don’t know too well. Then I realized that most of them were clustered around Ollie. He was in the middle of it all, being Mr Popular, making everyone laugh.
    Why couldn’t my crush be on someone ordinary like Joey or Sam? I guess you can’t control these things. “Give us a look,” Marcia said, snatching the binoculars from me. She did some peering, and then Evie had a look too.
    â€œEr … why are we doing this again?” Evie asked with a frown.
    â€œOperation SOOP,” I reminded her, desperate for another turn with the binoculars.
    â€œI know, but…” Evie took them away from her face. “What’s the point? I mean, apart from looking, what are we actually going to do ?”
    I sighed. Wasn’t it obvious? “We’re monitoring his movements,” I explained, “to get as much information as we can, so…”
    â€œBut all we’re doing is watching a load of boys messing about around a fire!”
    â€œShe’s right,” Marcia said, turning to me. “What are you going to do with all this … information ?”
    â€œWrite it down in a little book?” giggled Evie.
    â€œOf course I’m not,” I said firmly. “I’m … just trying to get to know him, aren’t