Hi, I'm Annabelle, and I have a secret admirer that turned my life upside down. But before I continue, please like and subscribe. I was never exactly the most popular girl in school, well, at least not for the right reason.
My sister Lenore and I grew up with parents who were the very definition of a weird goth couple. You know, the usual dressing like Victorian gravediggers, feeding Ravens in the park, and that one time my mom pranked the dentist with her fake vampire fangs. Yeah, typical parent stuff.
But believe it or not, my parents aren't my biggest problem. They're actually the best, most supportive parents anyone could hope for. Yes, we get stares and whispers when we go out in public together, but we didn't care.
We were living our best lives. That is, until Lenore and I started Elementary School. We were dressed in our usual gothic attire - black clothes, black shoes, and black backpacks.
My pet spider, Sam, even snuck into my pocket. The moment our parents dropped us off, the other kids started laughing at us and saying mean things. "Hey, look, twin freaks!
Is your mom a vampire? Is your dad Frankenstein? " Lenore was so embarrassed that she ran off and hid in the bushes.
"Leave me alone, you jerks! " I tried to shove one of the mean kids out of my way, but he didn't budge. Just then, Sam crawled out of my pocket and jumped on the kid's face.
The kid ran, crying and screaming like a maniac. The principal found out, and I was suspended for two weeks. That night, Lenore begged mom and dad for new clothes.
She threw a huge tantrum and refused to eat. When that didn't work, she blasted pop music and ran around the house dressed like a clown. "That music, it's so happy.
It's melting my brain. All those colors in that clown costume are burning my eyes. Please, make it stop.
" By the next morning, Lenore got her way. Mom and Dad bought her a brand new wardrobe. When my suspension was over, I went back to school, and to my surprise, Lenore was the most popular and best-dressed girl in school.
During lunch, I tried to sit next to her, but this girl named Stella looked at me like I had three heads. "What are you doing, creepy crawly? You can't sit here.
No weirdos allowed. " I looked over at Lenore, and she just shrugged. "You heard her, go sit somewhere else.
" As the years passed, Lenora and her BFF Stella became more and more popular. By the time we reached high school, they were captains of the cheerleading team, they had the best grades in our class, and all the boys wanted to date them. They were perfect, and I was a disaster.
I did want to make friends, but I could just never get it right. Like, for my 14th birthday, I planned a huge birthday party and invited my whole class. I had a spooky birthday theme, of course, which I was sure everyone would love.
But just as the kids were done singing "Happy Birthday," I opened the closet, and a dozen bats flew all around the room and maybe acted like they were attacking the kids. Everyone started screaming and running around in a panic. And then they left.
The next day at school, the kids whispered behind my back and refused to talk to me. But it was fine. I didn't need those jerks.
I still had Sam, yeah, the tarantula. Jeez, why is everyone so scared of these beautiful creatures? But even though hanging out with Sam was fun, I got lonely sometimes.
I never imagined that my life could become an even bigger mess than it already was. But uh, um, fate had something in store for me. On Valentine's Day, I walked down the hallway during recess to find a dozen boys surrounding Stella and Lenore in the hallway with gifts and flowers.
"Please, go out with me, Stella. I'll buy you a Ferrari! " "Be my Valentine, Lenore.
I'll fly you out to the Bahamas. " As I rolled my eyes and took my stuff out of my locker, I was surprised when a bright red envelope fell out of a book, and it had my name on it. "Hey, what's that?
" I was super excited, but I tried to play it cool. "I got a valentine. Creepy crawly has a secret admirer.
" Stella snatched the envelope out of my hand and made a huge commotion. Suddenly, everyone was staring at me. "Hey, give that back.
It's private. " Stella tossed the envelope to Lenore, who opened it and started reading it out loud. "My darling Annabelle, you're a shining star, a diamond in the rough.
The jocks and cool girls can't measure up to you. " Whoever wrote this must be blind and stupid. I tried to get the letter back, but Stella got in the way.
"You're my debating diva, my leading lady, my dancing queen, and my future class president. My heart aches when I see your face. Love, your secret admirer.
" Lenora, Stella, and all the other cool kids couldn't stop laughing. But I was shocked. I only joined the debating team a couple of days ago.
The last role I played in drama club was a donkey's butt, and I was too shy to dance in front of anyone. Plus, the odds of me becoming class president were slimmer than a toothpick. Just then, Jack, the editor of the school newspaper, materialized right beside me.
"I think that's a nice letter to get on Valentine's Day. " "Of course you do, nerd. I bet you wrote this junk.
" "It wasn't me, I swear. Whoever wrote this has lost his mind. " "Yeah, he's a crazy lunatic.
" Lenore ripped the letter to pieces and threw it in the trash. "That was mine, you witch. You're so stupid, Annabelle.
You don't really have. " A secret admirer, someone's just pulling your leg, you dummy! Lenore was probably right; it was a stupid joke.
I felt like the biggest loser ever once everyone had walked away. Jack pulled the letter out of the trash and taped it back together. Ignore them, I think your secret admirer is real.
Maybe I can help you find him. Jack spent the rest of the day asking me a ton of questions about every boy I'd ever spoken to or sat next to in class. He even came home to continue with his questions.
Jack was annoying at first, but it felt kind of nice to have someone taking an interest in me. I'm positive he's a member of the drama club or the debate team, all you have to do is lure him out. How am I supposed to do that?
Simple, if you suspect someone, you'll wink at him and smile like this. Jack started doing something really weird and twitchy with his face. Just then, Lenore barged into my room.
"You idiots are still searching for that stupid secret admirer? Not real! " "My secret admirer isn't stupid.
If you aren't going to help, you can get out. " "Fine, dummy, I'll help. Don't say I never did anything nice for you.
" We spent all night teaching me how to flirt with boys. The next day, I set my plan in motion. First stop, drama club.
I asked the drama teacher if I could audition for the lead role and surprisingly, I got it. During rehearsal, I met a cute boy who seemed to be into me. When I caught him staring at me in the hallway, I grabbed Jack and pretended to laugh at a joke.
"Oh, Jack, you're so funny. Your arms are like marshmallows made of steel. " "What?
That doesn't make any sense. " "I'm flirting with you, play along. " "Oh, stop, you're too much.
" Drma boy immediately swooped in and asked me out on a date and it was pretty sweet. He read me poetry and sang to me, but he swore he didn't write the love letter. My next date was a boy from the debate team.
I studied for days to earn a spot on the team, but I ended up being so good that I kept beating the team captain. Every time he saw me in the hall, he gave me the meanest looks. I think he hates me.
He's just playing hard to get. One night, me and debate boys stayed after everyone had left to practice and the next thing you know, we were kissing. But when I asked him if he was my secret admirer, he got annoyed and blocked my number.
A day later, out of the blue, Stella's ex-boyfriend, Dylan, who was the best dancer in school, invited me to a party. I didn't think it was a good idea to go, but then I remembered something. "OMG, Jack, what if it's Dylan?
You know, this one time Dylan came over to my house with Stella and he accidentally walked into my room when I was dancing alone. It could be him. " "Yeah, your secret admirer called you a dancing queen.
But what about Stella? " "What about her? Stella broke up with Dylan two years ago.
She's dated six guys since then. " I took Jack's advice and went to Dylan's party. As soon as I got there, Stella marched up to me.
"I heard you're trying to date my boyfriend. Listen to your ex, he's mine and he doesn't date freaks like you. " "She's not a freak, I think she's unique and much cooler than you.
" Stella got mad and stormed off. Dylan took my hand and pulled me to the dance floor. All eyes were on us and I got really nervous.
Then Dylan whispered in my ear, "You got this, dancing queen. " I was beyond excited. Dylan just quoted a line from my letter.
My nerves melted away and we were dancing like superstars. The crowd cheered my name and at the end of the night, Dylan gave me the perfect kiss. The next day, we were the talk of the school.
The more time I spent with Dylan and all his friends, the more I started to realize that I'd been an outcast all this time because I've never really tried to get to know the other kids at school. I hadn't given them much of a chance because they were different from me. They weren't bad at all and I could make compromises and not bring Sam to school.
Overnight, I became Dylan's girlfriend and even more popular than Stella. Lenore was even nicer to me now and we'd hang out more. Life was perfect, except for Stella.
Every time she saw me, she gave me death glares, spread rumors, and tried to make fun of me. But no one paid attention. My schedule got so busy that with being class president and spending time with Dylan, that I hardly had any time for Jack.
Then one day, Jack caught up with me in the hallway. "So, what's the verdict? Is Dylan your secret admirer?
" "Maybe. I haven't asked him yet. " Then I opened my locker and found another letter in a red envelope from my secret admirer.
I started to open it, but I hesitated. What if my secret admirer wasn't Dylan? Then Stella appeared out of nowhere.
She snatched the envelope out of my hand and ran down the hall and right up to Dylan. "Hey, Dylan, I'm sorry to be the one to drop the bad news, but your creepy, crawly girlfriend is a cheating witch. " Stella showed Dylan the love letter.
"Dylan, it's not what it looks like. " Stella read the letter out loud. "Dearest Annabelle, I'm sorry I've been away for so long.
You've kissed a handful of frogs, but. . .
" That's over now. Meet me behind the bleachers after school and I'll reveal myself to you. Love, your secret admirer and one true love.
Am I a frog? That seems to be the case. Dummy, shut up, Stella.
Let's go, Annabelle, your secret admirer is waiting. I didn't know what to do. The last thing I wanted was to break Dylan's heart.
Dylan, when you called me your Dancing Queen, I thought you wrote me the letter on Valentine's. I thought you were my secret admirer. Who cares about some stupid letters?
You already have me. Dylan was right and he was sweet, but he wasn't my true love. I'm sorry, Dylan.
I just need to know who it is I really care about. You, Annabelle, and I wish you'd change your mind. But if you don't feel the same way about me, then you should go.
I thanked Dylan and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Then I snatched the letter out of Stella's hand and ran. I felt like a jerk, but I had to meet my secret admirer.
He'd seen me when I was invisible. He really knew me. I wouldn't have ever had the confidence to make new friends, audition for the lead in the school play, or run for president if it wasn't for his first letter.
Jack and I raced out the door and headed straight for the bleachers. When we got there, Jack turned to me, "I'm your secret admirer, Annabelle. It was me all along.
" Jack leaned in to kiss me, but something didn't seem right. I didn't feel any butterflies. In fact, I felt pissed.
"What? You've been lying to me this whole time? If you lied to me and sent me the first letter, why did you make me go after the other boys?
" "Um, no, I uh, it was just a little game. I wanted you to see the garbage out there to realize we're perfect for each other. " "Well, thanks to your stupid games, I just broke Dylan's heart!
" I got so mad I pushed Jack into the mud. "Man, Stella didn't say this would be so complicated. Stella?
What does she have to do with this? Did I say Stella? I meant melons.
I'd sure like a melon right now. How about we go get one from the supermarket? " I grabbed Jack and told him to tell me the truth.
"Fine. I didn't send the first letter. The new letter is a fake by me.
I wasn't expecting you and Dylan to actually become a thing. I thought he'd just be one of those popular jerks who ditch you soon. But when you got all chummy, Stella came up with a plan to write the second letter so she could get Dylan back, and I could finally have you notice me.
We really don't know who sent the first letter. Come on, just forget about your stupid secret admirer. " I couldn't believe it.
I ripped up the letter and threw it in Jack's face. "My secret admirer isn't stupid. He's a dumb cow who's too embarrassed to show his face, or maybe he's not even real.
He's just a joke like you. " I punched him, ran straight home, threw myself on the bed, and cried into my pillow. "What's up, creepy crawly?
What do you want, Lenore? " I heard about what happened with Stella and Jack. I'm really sorry.
You were right all along. I don't have a secret admirer. The whole thing was just a joke, and I was too dumb to see it.
Just leave me alone. " After that, I moved on with my life. My parents bought me a new coffin to cheer me up.
Lenore started being nicer to me, and Dylan and I managed to become good friends. Jack spent weeks begging me for forgiveness, but when Sam bit him on the nose, he stopped bothering me. I thought the whole secret admirer thing was behind me until one night.
I'd just come home from a party. I went to a lot of those now that I was class president. I was super exhausted and immediately fell asleep.
And then I woke up in the middle of the night. At first, I didn't know where I was, but soon I realized I was in my mom's home office, under the Victorian hardwood desk. Moonlight streamed through the windows, drenching the room in white light.
I looked down at my hands and saw that I was holding something. It was my mom's ink pen, and I was holding a red paper with something written on it. Beside me were a handful of matching red envelopes.
My heart clenched when I finally realized what was going on. "I haven't written to you in a while, my dearest Annabelle, and that's because you don't need me anymore. I'm writing to you one more time to tell you that I'm so proud that you've accomplished everything you wanted, and I'm sure you'll achieve so much more.
Love, your secret admirer. " It wasn't my handwriting, not exactly, but I knew it was written by me to me. I knew I had a habit of sleepwalking and scribbling things on walls as a kid.
I guess that had returned. I'd written that first letter to myself in my sleep. I was my mysterious secret admirer all along.
Weird or not, I had found my greatest cheerleader, gained confidence, made friends, become class president. Nice going, me. I rolled the letter into a ball and threw it in the trash can.
Finally, it was over. "Oh yeah, one more thing. You have to promise not to tell anyone.
Pinky swear and cross your heart. It's our little secret. " "One more thing.
You think I should call Dylan now? Comment below.
