The Dream Crush

When I land my dream crush, someone will be crushed. Will it be me?

I’m a scholarship student at the fancy Dream Prep Academy, and I have a secret crush on Case, the wealthy and playful student who loves peanuts – something I’m allergic to. I’m paired with Case for a horror film project, and to my surprise, he starts to show an interest in me. As our relationship blossoms, my childhood best friend confesses his true feelings for me. My dating life gets messy as I’m sandwiched between my new boyfriend and my best friend. Someone is bound to be crushed. Will I get a happy ending, or will my story resemble a horror movie?

The Dream Crush is a standalone book in the Dream Prep Academy series. It’s perfect for fans of best friends to lovers, sassy and sarcastic girls not looking to be rescued, cute guys with surprises, and sweet gestures with no spice.

Peanuts frighten me. They’re a horror movie masquerading as food.

Case nudges my knee with his. “You want one?” he asks under his breath. He holds a package of plain M&M’s, not peanut. He’s been sneaking the colorful chocolate candies all class period and may be offering me some for my silence.

I shake my head. I’d love to eat an M&M, but I can’t. “No thanks,” I whisper, my eyes on Case’s hand as he holds the package. I sigh at the thought of what it would feel like to have one of his hands wrapped around mine. I’m envious of a forbidden candy.

Case pops a red M&M in his mouth without fear of getting caught. I have a healthy fear of peanuts. Case eats plain M&M’s, but they have a printed warning they may contain peanuts. A trace of a peanut is enough to make me sick, and a distant memory of being seriously ill after eating a candy with the same warning is seared into my mind and body.

“You sure?” Case smiles. It’s a slow smile with a hint of flirtiness. It’s swoony enough I almost want to say yes and take the candy, even if I have to fake eat it.

“You eat it,” I whisper.

The teacher walks behind us, and I stiffen. Case leaves the package of candy in his lap and does little to conceal it. While Case can easily charm his way out of trouble for having food in the classroom, I lack the same charm and riches to get out of mischief. I also don’t want the trouble a small amount of food can cause me. Eating anything with peanuts is a risky endeavor for my body.

Case jiggles the bag under the table in slow motions to avoid making noise, but it’s clearly a questioning motion. He again offers me the forbidden candy. He has no idea how much I desire it…or rather, how much I desire him. I’ve been crushing on Case since last year, and it was a dream come true when he arrived late to class the first day and the only open seat was the one next to me. It was a miracle when our intro to film and drama teacher said we’d be working on a project with the person next to us. We’re now into November and Case and I need to start our project.

I again refuse the candy with a shake of my head. Case’s light brown eyes watch me and the urge to take the candy from his hand is strong. His hand looks as soft as his hair. I swear Case has a barber on call every two weeks because his dark blonde hair never changes length. It’s cut into a short, preppy style, quite appropriate considering we attend a prep school. This year Case has a shadow of facial hair which only adds to his hotness.

I shake my head again to draw myself out of the crush hole I spiral down.

“Your loss,” Case says to my refusal and throws a blue candy in his mouth.

I clench my jaw. He has no idea how big the loss is and for the rest of the class I feel blue. Why do I waste so much time and energy on a dream crush? It seems once I get my emotions involved, my brain becomes mush.

When class ends, I take my time gathering my notebook and putting away my stuff. It’s the lunch hour, and I don’t need to rush. Rivers, my friend, sits in front of me. She stands and places her palms on the table I sit at with Case. He vacated the room once the bell rang.,

“What was going on back here during the movie?” Rivers asks. Her curly red hair drapes around her face and beautifully emphasizes her smattering of freckles.

“Case kept offering me candy,” I say.

“You didn’t take any, did you?” Rivers’s golden brown eyes grow larger than an M&M.

“Of course not,” I reply. Rivers is one of my few close friends. She knows about my food allergy and my crush on Case. “I wanted to take it. I even thought about fake eating it and then squirreling it away.”

“Squirreling it away?” Rivers puckers her pink lips.

“You know,” I say, “put them in a plastic container. Then I can stare at the colorful candies as I pine for the crush I’ll never have.”

“You’re hilarious,” Rivers says in a deadpan voice. She’s aware of my sarcasm habit. Not everyone gets it. “You have to get together with Case soon. Isn’t your presentation in a couple of weeks?”

“We have horror movies, which I loathe.” My eyes bulge and I clutch my chest in a dramatic fashion.

“How will you stand watching six movies or more?” Rivers asks.

Rivers presented romcom movies with her partner, Jayden, two weeks ago. Her senior year has followed the formula of a romcom movie, and if this pattern holds true, mine is going to follow a horror movie. I need to start bracing myself or at some point I’ll be the victim who can’t even scream in terror. I’ll be the oblivious character people shout at. They’ll yell, “Don’t do it,” and I’ll do whatever stupid thing I shouldn’t do.

“The only bright spot is I get to watch them with Case,” I say. “If I can manage to keep my eyes open.”

“Perfect time to do the whole cliché frightened girl routine who needs the big strong guy to protect her from a scary movie.” Rivers grins at me. We'd rather be the rescuer than be the one rescued.

“I’ve nearly got the horror movie schoolgirl cliché covered.” Imitating a game show model, I wave a hand over my school uniform of a plaid skirt, white blouse, plaid tie, navy blazer, and knee-high socks. “I’ll have to hike the skirt, ditch my flats for heels, and unbutton half my blouse.”

“Sure.” Rivers grins. She gets my dry humor, where others would think I’m serious. Case would hope I’m serious. He fits the strong guy cliché. I wouldn’t doubt he has a team of personal trainers because he’s built like he does.

“Let’s go to lunch.” I drape the strap of my bag over my shoulder and think of Case’s strong arms around me.

“Lizzie!” Rivers yells. I stop and look at her. Rivers points. “You might want to go through the door instead of walking into the wall.”

I also might want to get my head out of dream land. Having a crush on a boy is a health hazard.