The Crushes by Pamela Wells Page A

chatting and Kelly escaped to the bathroom to make sure she didn’t have skid marks on her face or something.
    Satisfied with her appearance, she returned to the main area of the gym. She overheard Drew invite Adam to the next poker night.
    “Yeah, that sounds cool,” Adam said. “I’ll be there.”
    And so would Kelly.

TEN
Rule 24: Become his friend! Talk to him but do not become one of his boys!
    Sydney plopped down on a bench in the back lobby of Children’s Hospital, her cell phone up against one ear, her other hand holding tightly to an 8x10 photo she’d had printed out last night at a copy shop.
    On her first full day at the hospital, she’d seen a flyer announcing an amateur photo contest. At the time, she hadn’t given entering a second thought, but the contest had stuck with her, and the deadline to enter was today.
    The photo she’d picked was one taken earlier this year of Drew’s friend Kenny running through the park, the sun shining muted rays on him. It was by far one of her favorite pictures, and she’d always wanted to share it with someone, someone who was honest and would tell her whether or not it was good.
    A panel of judges on a photo contest would be honest, but did she really want to know? She liked the picture, wasn’t that enough?
    “Hello? Syd?” Kelly said through the cell phone.
    “Oh, sorry.” Sydney turned away from the photo and looked out the lobby windows at the people rushing left and right. Some wore business suits, others colorful hospital scrubs.
    “You said you had something to talk to me about,” Kelly said. “What’s up?”
    Sydney glanced again at the picture of Kenny. She’d called Kelly for encouragement because Sydney knew Kelly, out of all her friends, would push her more than anyone. Raven wouldn’t care one way or the other. “Just do whatever you want,” Raven would say.
    Alexia would come up with something neutral, like, “Do what feels right to you.”
    But Kelly, she’d shriek and cheer Sydney on and tell her she was being silly by not entering. And that’s what Sydney needed.
    Sydney told Kelly about the contest and the picture she’d taken of Kenny.
    “I just wanted your opinion,” Sydney said, “should I enter?”
    “Well, yeah! Of course you should! What can it hurt, right? Besides, you’re perfect at everything. I highly doubt the judges would laugh you right out of the contest.”
    Perfect? Hardly. Sydney’s love life was certainly not perfect.
    Nothing about her life was perfect right now. But Kelly was right, Sydney had little to lose if she entered the contest, and she only had until seven o’clock tonight to make a submission. If she let the deadline pass and held onto herpicture of Kenny, she’d always wonder, What if? Sydney hated What ifs .
    “Thanks, Kelly, for listening.”
    “Hey, no problem. So does that mean you’re entering?”
    Sydney stood up from the bench and headed toward the front of the hospital where the photo drop box was located. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m entering right now.”
    Sydney eyed the clock that hung on the wall behind the nurses’ station in West Two. One thing Sydney hadn’t figured on was working just a few floors above the contest submission box. She had an hour before the deadline, before someone swooped in and emptied the box, taking Sydney’s photo with them.
    That would be it, no going back. She would be subjected to a panel of judges, her picture analyzed and scrutinized and…
    “Muffin duty today, Sydney,” a heavyset nurse said, rolling a muffin cart in Sydney’s direction. “It’s tonight’s after-dinner snack. Pass one out to each child and any of the parents who are visiting. The only rooms you should skip are 403 and 408, since those children are on strict diets.”
    In school, Sydney was used to being in control. She knew the work and she knew it well. Here, it was a completely different situation. She was at the mercy of the staff to help her along. One little slip