Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff Read Online Free

rang, I would try to get up at just the right time so that I could bump into her or catch her glance as she left the room. I’m sure Mr. Houston, our teacher, must have given his lecture every day, but all I can remember is something-something Appamatox and something-something Battle of the Bulge (although that last one might have been from Saving Private Ryan ).
    We broke for the holidays, and all I could think about was Lisa. I would go play video games or hang out at the mall and hope to see her. Surely Lisa shopped at the Gap. Maybe I’d see here there. I think I once heard her say she liked movies. Maybe I’d catch her at the movie theater. I saw a girl at the mall that I thought I once saw talking to Lisa at school so I followed her around for about twenty minutes, but it turned out she was with her mom and she looked at me like I was a little creepy, so I gave that up.
    So anyway, the next semester started. Lisa never made her move, and so I somehow decided it was a good idea to write a stupid poem and put it in Lisa’s locker, through those evil vents. I knew when Lisa’s next class got out, and I somehow got a hall pass so I could sneak out of my class early and position myself at the wall around the corner from her locker before she did. My plan worked, and I was there in time to see Lisa open her locker. The bright red envelope came flying out and nearly poked her in the eye. It hit the ground, and Tyler Coleman picked it up.
    â€œWhat’s this?” he asked. “Did someone send you a valentine? Who’s your boyfriend? ” Lisa’s friends suddenly gathered around. Tyler opened the envelope and began to read my poem.
    Dear Lisa:
    You may not know much about me
So I’m sending you this little plea
Today is Valentine’s Day
And I have something to say
    I have admired you from afar
I wish I had a car
So I could take you out on a date
To the movies or maybe to rollerskate
    Because I think you are cool
The best in our dumb school
So please hear what I have to say
It’s really important, okay?
    The words resonated in my head, each one striking me with the force of a sledge hammer. And there was my name at the bottom of the page—for all the world to see! What was I thinking? Everyone laughed. The force of their laughter caused me to move, ever so slightly, and someone noticed me. I had nowhere to run and had to walk past them all on my way to my next class: U.S. History. They saw me.
    â€œLook, Lisa, it’s your boyfriend. ” “Why don’t you give him a big kiss?” “Hey, superdweeb, come over here and give your girlfriend a big old kiss.”
    Tyler grabbed my arm and tried to shove me toward Lisa. She turned away with a look as though someone had just shoved dog poop in her face. I think I turned a new color of red that’s not even available in the Crayola 64 box of crayons. All I could hear was the laughing. Other kids started coming around to see what was so funny, and Tyler handed over the card so they could pass it around. I tried to move, but Tyler had a firm grip on my arm. How could this possibly get any worse?
    I looked to Lisa for some support, some sign that she wasn’t part of this ugly mob. But her expression had changed from a look of disgust to laughter, too. She had joined in with the rest. This was clearly the single worst event of my entire life.
    If I was distracted in U.S. History before, now multiply that by ten. I couldn’t even look at the back of Lisa’s head because everyone was looking at me to see if I was looking at the back of Lisa’s head. I could only wallow in self-pity. The whole rest of the year I was either Lisa’s boyfriend or superdweeb. Everyone forgot my name.
    That day, I went home and tried to hide under the covers of my bed. My mother came in and asked me what was wrong. I couldn’t possibly tell her. But I had to tell someone.
    She eventually managed to get the