Young Writers Society

Emily was a nosy kid and she knew it. She couldn't help but listen to people's conversations when walking through the halls, and that day was no exception. She was on her way to History when she walked past two girls in her class, Iliza and Esmeralda, while they were talking. Emily had nosy ears so naturally she heard a snippet of what Eliza was saying.

"...that I have a crush on Theo!” she heard her saying. Wait what? Emily thought. Since when has Iliza had a crush on Theo? I never heard about this. Emily was in shock. Drama like this almost never happened in the school. It was big news, and she didn't know what to think of it.

After History, Emily was talking to her best friend Brooklyn. "...I mean, there isn't a lot of drama at this school. No crushes or anything. " Brooklyn was saying.

" Well, I wouldn't say that…" Emily said.

" What do you mean?” Brooklyn looked at her suspiciously.

“Okay, fine,” Emily started to whisper in her ear, “I heard somewhere that Iliza has a crush on Theo.”

“Theo??” Brooklyn asked, wildly. “But Iliza’s so popular and Theo’s so…you know.”

“Exactly, that’s what I thought when I heard it.” Emily replied.

“Come on, Emily,” Brooklyn pleaded to her, “You have to tell me where you heard it! I need to know.”

“Where she heard what?” a voice said. It was Isla, Emily and Brooklyn’s other friend. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing,” Brooklyn said, “It’s none of your-”

“Iliza has a crush on Theo.” Emily blurted out.

“WhAaAaAaAt??” Isla said, a bit too loudly. “Iliza has a crush on Theo?!”

“Quiet down!” Emily whispered, shushing her. “This is a secret, remember? No one should know thi-”

“Iliza has a crush on Theo?” Now two boys, Luke and Levi, who were best friends, came up to the girls to hear more about the gossip.

“Now look what you’ve done!” Brooklyn said to Isla.

“What do you mean, I didn’t say it that loud!” Isla told her.

“Everyone shut up!” Emily whispered loudly. “This was supposed to be a private conversation between me and Brooklyn, none of you guys were supposed to know! You have to keep this a secret, or else-” She thought for a second. “Well, I don’t know what will happen, but something bad probably!”

“You know, you’re the one who told Isla when she heard what we were talking about!” Brooklyn pointed out to her.

“But she only came because you were talking too loudly!” Emily shot back.

“Can someone please tell us more about this?” Levi said to them.

“Yeah, we reeeally need to know.” Luke said mischievously.

“No, you don’t.” Emily said. “And it’s not like I know anything more either! What you need to do right now is not tell anyone, especially Theo. And that goes for all of you!” Emily gestured to the rest of them. “Not a word. You got that?” They all nodded. “Good. And you didn’t hear it from me.”

Little did they know that a group of five people from their grade had walked past them while they were talking, and they had heard exactly what they said. .

After school, Luke and Levi had decided that they would tell their friends, Elias and Ethan, about what they heard.

They figured that if they didn’t tell, it would be perfectly fine.

They didn’t know that Isla had already gone off and told her entire group of friends about what Emily had heard. And the group of five had each told another friend, who told another friend. Ethan and Elias also told more of their friends, including Theo’s best friend, Josiah. All of them had told people not to tell anyone else, but almost everyone had done that. By lunch the next day, everyone in the grade (and more) had heard that Iliza had a crush on Theo.

Except, of course, Iliza and Theo.

Josiah had decided that his best friend deserved to know the rumour that had been going around the grade, and that lunch was the best time to say it. When Theo had cleared his plate and was done with his lunch, Josiah went up to him.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he told him, “It’s important.”

“What? Spit it out.” Theo told him.

“Iliza has a crush on you,” Josiah whispered in his ear.

Theo was shocked. He didn’t think anyone would have a crush on him…he didn’t take care of his hair very well, and people considered him to be a nerd. Why would a popular girl like Iliza like him? “Are you sure?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure! That’s what I heard.” Josiah said. “Maybe you should confront her.” He said quietly.

“No way! Are you crazy?” Theo exclaimed.

Now it was time for Iliza to find out about the rumour. After third block, Adriana went up to Iliza.

“So, Iliza, how do you feel about everyone knowing your secret?” Adriana sneered maliciously.

“What are you talking about Adriana?” Iliza said, rolling her eyes.

“You know, about your crush!” Adriana said.

“I don’t have any crushes,” Iliza said. “You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

“Oh, quit pretending,” Adriana told her, “everyone knows you have a crush on Theo.”

“Theo?! Who on earth told you that?!” Iliza whispered loudly.

“Everyone knows, Iliza. Everyone knows.” Adriana said as she walked away with an annoying amount of confidence. Iliza couldn’t believe it. Who was spreading that rumour? She had to stop it.

That night, Iliza spent hours texting people about where they heard the rumour from, and texting that person. She couldn’t believe how much people went through to get some juicy gossip. Finally, after texting and texting, she got to the last person: Emily. There was no one in the class left, so Iliza decided she would tell her in person the next morning, since it was getting late already.

The next morning in school, Iliza came up to Emily.

“Where did you hear that rumour about me?” she demanded.

Emily looked a little scared. “Oh…you found out about that. Sorry.”

“Why have you been spreading lies about me? Do you hate me or something? Is that it?” Iliza asked angrily.

“Of course I don’t hate you,” Emily reassured her. “I just overheard you saying that to Esmeralda, and somehow everyone found out about it.”

“I would never say that! When did you hear that?”

“Right before Second Block, on Wednesday. You were walking to English.”

Iliza thought for a second and then answered. “Oh, that’s not what we were talking about…”

2 days earlier…

“So how was Camp Starview? Tell me everything!” Esmerelda said, slinging her white backpack over her shoulder as she walked out of the Chorus classroom.

“Okay, so I have this crazy story to tell you,” Iliza told her with excitement in her eyes. “So at the end of last year, Theo and I became good friends, because we have Latin together, right? And like, all the other people in Latin aren’t my friends, so I realized that Theo and I have a lot in common! So then, in Starview Camp, we both picked the same slot time for Kayaking. And in kayaking, you get to choose your partner, and I chose Theo because I wanted to continue our conversation from the last time we met! But then annoying Amber from Sapphire Prep kept saying that I have a crush on Theo, but no one believed her luckily.”

Just then, Emily walked past them. She seemed to be staring at them. How weird.

Present time…

“Ohhhh. That makes so much sense.” Emily said.

“Yup! I didn’t have a crush on him at all, it was just taken out of context. Next time, maybe don't tell people about something you eavesdropped, especially if it’s taken out of context.” She didn’t seem too angry. Emily was relieved.

“I’m sorry I spread that rumour about you. I’ll try to keep things I hear to myself next time.” Emily said.

“It’s okay! I might have done that once too…” Iliza said, trailing off.

“Wait, what?” Emily asked excitedly.

“Okay,” Iliza told her, “so in 5th grade, there was this thing where…”

THE END