The Crushes by Pamela Wells Page B

and these kids would suffer because of her.
    She hated feeling out of control.
    After writing down the restricted room numbers, Sydney wheeled the cart away from the nurses’ station and headed toward the first room. The little boy was sleeping and his mother declined a muffin. In the next room, the little girl, clutching to her stuffed rabbit, nodded emphatically when asked if she liked chocolate chip muffins.
    “Here you go, then,” Sydney said as she handed the muffin over along with a napkin. Her mother and older brother both took one, too.
    So far, so good.
    Sydney went back to her cart and rolled along to room 403.
    Strict diet, she thought, remembering the nurse’s orders.
    Sydney glanced inside the room. The little boy was on his side facing the hallway. The blanket was kicked off his legs. Tubes snaked from his hand and his mouth. The machines behind his bed beeped and whirred.
    And, sitting close to the child’s bed, holding his tiny hand, was Quin. His back was to her and his black hair was untied, creating a curtain between his eyes and Sydney.
    But if he’d been able to see, he’d have most definitely caught her staring.
    There was something awe-inspiring about a guy Sydney’s age who sat in a Peds ICU room with a little boy who was a stranger to him, holding his hand while he slept.
    Sydney finished passing out muffins just in time for her break. Plopping down at the round table, she brought out her cell phone and hit number two on speed dial. The phone rang several times before Drew’s voice mail picked up.
    Sydney hit END and then number five on speed dial. Kelly answered on the third ring.
    “Hey, Syd. What’s up?”
    Sydney clacked open a can of Sprite. “Is Drew over there?”
    “Umm…”
    Sydney could hear music playing in the background. It was that new singer, Kay-J. She’d apparently gone double platinum, or whatever it was, and was on all the top billboard charts.
    “Hold on a sec,” Kelly said, turning the music down. “I’m in my room. I heard a car pull up not too long ago. Maybe it was Drew.”
    Sydney pulled an orange from her bag and peeled back the rind. Her day so far had been pretty uneventful except for entering the contest. She really had nothing to talk to Drew about, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to talk to him. Just hearing his voice on the phone made her happy. And she figured, the more they communicated, the stronger their relationship would be.
    Like Rule 24 said, Become his friend!
    Sydney figured a good relationship started there, with a friendship. She and Drew, they’d skipped that part and gotten right to the making out. If their relationship was going to survive this time, she had to be his friend and his girlfriend, someone he could trust, someone he felt he could talk to.
    And most importantly, someone he could count on to listen, to be understanding.
    That was the new and improved Sydney.
    “Yup, he’s here,” Kelly said a minute later. “Hold on.”
    The phone switched hands. Drew came on the line. “Hey. Did you get off work early or something?”
    “I’m on break.”
    “Oh. Everything okay?”
    “Fine. I just…I don’t know, I missed you.”
    “Oh.” He sounded surprised. A good surprised. Maybe Sydney needed to do this sentimental thing more often. “Well, I miss you, too.”
    Silence filled the line. Sydney peeled off a slice of orange and bit into it. “I guess I really don’t have anything else to say. I just called to tell you I love you.”
    He laughed that easy Drew laugh. “I love you, too. And hey, Syd?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You can call more often like this. You know, just to tell me you miss me. I kinda like it.”
    Sydney grinned wide. “I can manage that.”

ELEVEN
Rule 30: Do not tell anyone that you have a crush on someone unless you know you can trust them not to tell your crush!
    The early afternoon sunshine spilled over the porch railing as Raven swung slowly in the hammock. She chewed on the end of her pen,