I was bored. I was tired. I was in class.

Hebrew Studies was probably one of the most unnecessary classes I've ever had to take, seeing as I'm neither Jewish nor have I have any interest in converting. The school I attend is a Catholic girls' school, so I don't expect many of my other classmates have any use for it, either. However, Hebrew Studies was a much better option than the alternative -Sophomore Christology. While my advanced HS class was boring, it was much better than being in the slow-paced normal classes. Most of the kids I know really don't care about advanced vs. average, but I do. Then again, most kids don't have reason enough to care. But when you're in the top 1% of the nation, trust me: you automatically have a larger interest.

"Miss Turner?" Mr. Leman chirped with a sharp gleam in his eye. "Please summarize the lesson we read last night. "

"Um… Well, it was basically just that many modern, young Jewish people don't actually follow the religious beliefs and traditions anymore but stay within the culture and occasionally attend the really important services. Right?"

"Correct!" Mr. Leman affirmed.

On another completely, necessary and yet relatively irrelevant note, it was raining that morning.

This isn't weird, because I live in Seattle. But what was weird was when it started hailing. Suddenly, the classroom was filled with a loud, sharp noise. I glanced out of the window, only to see white pieces of ice pour out the sky. And something larger than just hail. A white rectangle floated down from the clouds. It landed slightly under the rose bushes. Curious.

At the end of the day, I scurried down the steps to the small flower garden we have right in front of the school. On my hands and knees, I grabbed around for the rectangle I had seen. Finally catching on to something, I pulled out a small, white notebook. It looked fairly expensive, bound in something similar to white leather. On the cover was gold writing. Life Note, it read.

Have you ever had a really large, uncomfortable moment where you don't intend to jump to conclusions because if you're wrong, you would be disappointed? But no matter how hard you try, you can't avoid it? Yeah, that's how I felt at that moment.

About two years ago, the Japanese NPA released the confidential files regarding the Kira case to the world. Kira was a serial killer who committed all his crimes using a-get this-notebook. My parents had followed "Lord Kira," as he was often called, but I would be surprised if they actually believed he was truly correct and just, though. I like to think of it being similar to people living in Nazi Germany: whether or not you actually believed the Jews were at fault for any of your problems, you still pledged allegiance to the party. But in my young, impressionable mind, Kira propaganda was just all I grew up with. And as a young preteen, I did believe in Kira's judgement. As did everyone else I knew.

After I boarded my bus I let my mind wander. The Life Note was more likely related to a prank than it was to the mythical Death Note, a notebook that had the power to kill anyone whose name was written inside. It came from a huge international crime that whole ethics courses in school revolved around, so the idea that this Life Note was just a carefully crafted prank was plausible. What kind of powers could a Life Note have? It seemed a lot less interesting than a Death Note.

I got off the bus and found an open bench. I opened up the notebook and was pleased to find rules:

This notebook possesses two powers: to return life to something once living, or to cause two people to fall in love.

In order to return life to something, you must write their full name or scientific name (if it is an animal), and picture him or her in your mind. You then have 40 seconds to specify various conditions. After you begin to specify your conditions, you have 6 minutes and 40 seconds to finish.

To cause two people to fall in love, you must write both names on the same line. You must know the full names, but you need only know the face of one person. The life note will know who you intend for the match. As for writing specifications, the rules are the same as with giving life.

If the dead person/animal/item has been dead for more than 3 weeks, it cannot be resurrected.

If one person is already in true love, the Life Note cannot work.

I closed the notebook. How useless. For some people, for some girls, this would have been perfect. But I actually found no use for this. What would I do? Play matchmaker for all my friends? And the part about raising the dead was equally ludicrous. People would definitely notice if deceased humans began walking the earth.

The part that was more ridiculous was that I believed it. I needed to test this notebook.

What would my first test be? Both sounded rather risky. Raising something dead would be pretty noticeable. Making two people fall in love was also risky, because I wasn't likely to see immediate results. And who was I going to use? However, of the two…

A boy suddenly sat next to me on the bench. As I began to scoot over, he turned and said,

"I'm not a creep, if that's what you think." He only sounded a few years older than my sixteen.

"I'm Anne Prind." I introduced myself cautiously, shaking his hand.

"I'm Nick O'Hara." Thank God. At least now I had one person to use who I didn't care about.

A moment later I spotted a girl from my school sitting nearby. And at that moment, I suddenly felt like maybe, just maybe, this was true. That this might work.

Anyway, I knew her name: Tracy Harmouth. I dug around in my backpack, trying to slip the Life Note into a binder. Success. I pulled up the binder and assumed a position similar to the famous detective L's. Mr. Nick O'Hara wouldn't be able to see what I was writing:

Nick O'Hara-Tracy Harmouth

"Love at first sight"

Each looks up at 4:03

And Nick walks over to talk to Tracy.

It was 4:01. I had two minutes. They were long two minutes.

Staring at my watch, I slowly saw it click to 4:03. I immediately glanced at his face. And at Tracy's face. And back at Nick's. A tennis match.

Nick looked… enchanted. Theoretically, he was. I don't even think he blinked. I clapped. He didn't seem to notice. His whole world was Tracy.

Tracy, on the other hand, was blushing. But not in a flushed, embarrassing way. She looked like one of the roses from the school gardens: alit, soft, and pink.

Nick stood up, brushed back his hair, and strode over to Tracy. I grabbed my bag and dashed away. I was happy. I was sad. I was sick with excitement, and yet guilty and afraid.

It seemed like a cruel joke, forcing a young girl into love with someone she didn't know and wouldn't have known. It probably wouldn't even work out, and they likely wouldn't be happy.

There really wasn't much use for the Life Note.