I pushed my glasses back up my nose as my clammy hand began to slip from his grasp. He gave me a reassuring smile. We walked down the hall slowly. He’s making sure everyone can see us together. I thought. I glared at him, he knew I didn’t like this publicity. He simply smirked at me and hoisted his bag a little higher on his other arm. People were starting to whisper to each other. “Isn’t that Jacob? Jacob Mandell??!”

“Who’s that girl with him??”

“I think her name is Emma..?”

“Is that Emma James  holding hands with Jacob Mandell?!”

“Holy sh!t!”

I felt myself flushing as people said my name and his over and over to each other. He winked at Dave and a few other boys as their mouths dropped open as we passed. I held my math textbook and my notebooks closer to my chest. My heart fluttered as he turned towards me at the end of the hall. The most unlikely couple in the school was about to make themselves official to the public. I still heard whispers. 

“Wow. They aren’t gonna last long.”

“He’s just gonna use her to do his homework for him.”

“Seriously, she’s a nerd and a geek! She has braces!”

“Haha, she doesn’t know what’s coming.”

“He’ll dump her real quick, trust me.”

He ran his and through my hair. I smiled. They could say what they wanted to say. What we had was real, and genuine.

When he kissed me, I heard a gasp come up behind us. I guess there isn't any turning back now. I thought happily. I closed my eyes and savoured the kiss, my heart continuing to flutter. 

 -13 years later-

“Mooommmmmm!!!!!!!” Deana screamed.

“I’m coming honey!!!” I called. I ran up the staircase into her bathroom to see her looking down at her underwear in horror. “Oh...” I said, looking. Deana groaned. “It’s like a freaking birthday present, mom!” she complained. 

“Ehh, well, now that your a woman you should do your own laundry, right?”

Deana glared at me and reached for my box of pads above the toilet. I passed them to her. “I’ll wait outside, love.” I smiled. She nodded.

My phone rang as I stepped outside to wait. “Hello?”

Henry’s voice answered me. “Is Deana alright? She looked odd yesterday."

Deana poked her head out and shook her head vigorously. Laughing silently, I answered my boyfriend; "she's okay."

"okay, thats good, really good."

I bit my lip and took him off speaker. "Are you okay?" I asked in a low voice.

He snapped back to his normal self when he responded. "Nope, i'm great! Really great!"

"Alright..." I said slowly. He hung up after a quick goodbye and I turned back to the bathroom door and hugged myself subconsciously. "You okay, mum?" Deana asked me, looking worried. "Yep... I'm good." I mumbled back. She crossed her arms and stared me down. "C'mon mom, We know each other better than we know ourselves!"

I squinted at my daughter. "That doesnt make sense, Dea," I laughed.

"I KNOW, RIGHT!" she said, laughing too. 

I linked arms with her. "We should go do something to celebrate you becoming a woman!" I said cheerfully. 

"Well... there is that new video game store that opened up...  and afterwards we'll binge watch Young Justice and Clone Wars?" she suggested.

"You read my mind!!! Lets go!"

We spent the afternoon buying video games and playing them on the Xbox, and afterwards sobbing over the fact that they cancelled Young Justice 2 seasons in, and over the fact that Ahsoka left the Jedi because of her backstabbing best friend. At around 10:30 pm I yawned and said that we should get to bed because Deana had school tomorrow. "Yeah, agreed." Deana yawned back, before pausing where we left off in season 5 of Clone Wars. We dragged our lazy butts upstairs and said goodnight before going to our own rooms. I got into my Pjs and sat against my pillows, getting comfortable. I was planning to watch some fandom on youtube concerning the new Fantastic Beasts movie, so me and Deana could entertain ourselves at breakfast the next morning. Ooh, I almost forgot, I have to run to the store tomorrow to pick up candles. I slapped my forehead and turned on my phone, I needed to make a reminder- and then I looked at my phone. One new message from: unknown, My phone said. Feeling nervous, I tapped; view message. 

Hey... The message read. It's Jacob. I know its been a while... but we need to talk.

"Mom? Hey, Mom!! Mooommm?" Deana waved her hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and checked my watch. "8:45 already?!" I cried, panicked. "Thats what i'm trying to tell you, mum!" Deana said.

I've got to get my head back into my life. I thought, slapping my head after waving bye to Deana. I still couldnt believe she was in grade 8. She was so mature, I thought as I watched her hurry up the stairs to the school.

-Deana-

I'm a little tall for my age, with my mums green eyes and super curly, really long, chestnut brown hair and freckles everywhere on my body, and I mean EVERYWHERE. I'm a geek, like my mom, and I’m proud of it. I love my mom more than anything in the world, and I know her really well. There was something up with her, I wish I knew what. But I couldnt think about it now- I had to finish the day of school without getting teased, questioned on, or both. Ava met me at the school entrance. "Hey bestie!" I exclaimed, hugging her. She smiled widely and hugged me back. "Hey Dee!" she exclaimed. we turned to go inside the school and WHAM. I collided with Dennis Smith, aka my 'crush'. (I'll explain later.) His face went as red a a tomato and he stuttered "S-sorry," and ran off. I managed not to sigh but Ava grabbed my hand and pulled me into the nearest girls washroom before I could take a breath anyway. 

"Wait, Dee, why are you not blushing AT ALL right now?!"

"Uh, uhm," I spluttered, trying to cover up. "I, uh, it must of faded by now, right?" 

Ava narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak but another voice interrupted her.

"Why is who not blushing?"

Wait. I know that voice. That's Lilly Collins, aka MY ACTUAL CRUSH.

Lilly stepped out of the stall, long brown dreadlocks bouncing behind her as she walked towards us. "Why is who not blushing?" she repeated. I felt my face explode.

And that is how Deana James died. 

Just kidding! I certainly wanted to die then and there though. "Uh, no one-" I said, feeling my foot around, trying to step on Ava's foot, don't say anything-

"Dennis crashed full-on into Deana and somehow she isn't blushing AT ALL RIGHT NOW."

I wanted to slap my forehead and kill Ava. 

"It's probably faded by now, like Dee said! You do still have a crush on him though right? You are all he talks about, so you gotta let him down easy before things get a little messy." Lilly draped an arm around my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. I think I started sweating by how close her face was to mine. Plus, her hair smelled like mangos and her breath smelled like mint, so that didn't help things."Um, yeah." I said, completely forgetting what I was agreeing to. 

"K. Cool. Listen, I have to head to class, so see you guys around," Lilly said, walking to the exit. "Peace."

"We should get going too" Ava linked arms with me brightly. "Uh, yeah," I responded.