But that night, Julian felt a crush for the first time, a real crush.
Julian Norris sighed as he stood in line at the hot dog stand at the LA county fair with this parents who were of course bickering. They do that all of the time, making Julian not want to be around them any longer. He knew in half an hour, his mother would be breaking into the small bottle of vodka she had slipped into her bag this morning, and his Dad would be on the phone to his work people. But at least his Dad's actually here and not working around the country like he usually is.
He glanced around the fair and noticed a small girl sat on the bench, and she was pretty. Even prettier than Candi Roberts in his class who shares her pudding with him on Tuesdays. Her blonde hair was in two plaits resting on each of her small shoulders, and her face looked sad, which made the eight year old Julian feel sad too.
So he tugged on his Mom's hand. ''Mom, can I go over there?'' he asked, pointing to the direction of the bench the girl was sat on.
Sylvia smiled at her son who always thought of others. ''Yeah, but let me know if you go on any rides okay? I'll just wait around here, and don't talk to any strangers.''
Julian nodded. ''Okay.''
And then he made his way towards her.
''Taylor!'' an eight year old Haley screamed, stamping her foot dramatically. ''Don't leave me, you stupid head!''
A twelve year old Taylor James turned around and stuck her tongue out playfully at the little sister she loves to torment. ''Bye Hales, make sure you don't get stolen, men like to steal kids at county fairs.'' she said matter-of-factly, before running off with a cute boy she met ten minutes earlier.
Haley sighed as she looked around the busy fair ground. Her Dad was off at the field nearby playing football with her brothers with her mother watching close by, Quinn was taking pictures of absolutely everything, Vivian was far too old for county fairs so she was talking on her mobile to one of her many friends, and Taylor's just being Taylor. They're currently in LA, as Vivian's due to go to college next year, so this summer they're going around the country to see many of the top colleges in USA. Jimmy had suggested earlier that day that they go to the county fair before they head somewhere else tomorrow, and now Haley's here, alone.
Fairs were supposed to be cool, with candy floss and tokens, even bumper carts! It would be so much better if her best friend Lucas was here, but Jimmy and Lydia already had seven kids to handle, they couldn't cope with one more, no matter how quiet and broody he is.
She looked at the tokens in her hand; it would be no fun to use them on her own. So she decided to just sit and wait until they were due to go home, which would be the sensible thing to do, rather than wandering off and being stolen by the type of man her sister just mentioned.
As she sat down on a bench, she noticed how everyone was having a good time. And unfortunately, this bench was placed right in the middle of the fun, leaving her alone to watch everyone be happy when she was far from it.
God, she hates Taylor sometimes. Her brothers are annoying, Vivian barely talks to her because of the age gap between them. Quinn is the only one she gets on with, they're only a couple of years apart and both enjoy the same things. But Quinn's taking pictures, something she's recently discovered that she loves doing. Haley doesn't want to get in her way or anything.
She felt someone's presence beside her and turned to see a boy sat beside her. His brown curly hair was quite short, and he had small round glasses resting on his nose, and he was grinning at her. So she glared at him. ''Who are you?''
''I'm Julian,'' he announced. ''What's your name?''
''I'm not aloud to talk to strangers.''
''I'm not a stranger, I just told you, I'm Julian.'' he stated in confusion.
Haley looked at him strangely. ''You're weird.''
''And by the way,'' Julian continued. ''It's not like I'm dangerous or anything, I'm only eight.''
''You have a point,'' she pondered, resting her finger on her chin as she thought about whether or not to continue talking to this boy. This Julian was strange, but that was just like her. And he is cute, a bit like that Nathan Scott who she's not supposed to think is cute (Lucas said so, yet she doesn't know why, she just knows that Lucas doesn't get on with the other boy who shares his last name.). And the boy is smart; she had already figured that out by his stranger comment. She's smart too, maybe she could spend her remaining time here with him? ''Okay. What do you want?''
Julian readjusted his glasses so they wouldn't fall off his face. ''You looked lonely, and I wanted to see if you were okay.''
Haley actually smiled at that, showing her blue braces. ''Do you wanna go on The Octopus?''
Julian grinned back cheesily, which Haley realised was probably his typical smile. ''Sure.''
''Race ya!'' she shouted, before running off into the direction of the ride.
''Hey! No fair!''
Haley snorted as they walked away from The Octopus, struggling to walk in a straight line. ''The Octopus is so cool!''
''I feel dizzy.'' Julian stated dizzily, with the typical grin on his face. ''That is the best ride ever!''
''I know,'' she nodded in agreement. ''Where are your parents?''
''Fightin' somewhere, probably.'' Julian shrugged, looking down onto the floor sadly as they walked in a random direction, not knowing where they actually wanted to go. ''My Dad will probably leave soon though, he works a lot.''
Haley smiled at him comfortingly. ''At least you have no smelly brothers or sisters. I have three sisters and three brothers, they're all Meany's, except Quinn.''
Julian grinned. ''That sounds like fun. It's not fun when your Mom drinks a lot, she doesn't play with me as much anymore.''
''Sorry,'' she said to her new friend sincerely. ''If I lived here, I'd play with you.''
''When do you leave?''
''Tomorrow.'' Haley said with a sigh. She's actually grown to like Julian in the twenty minutes she's known him, he's actually really nice, and his smile is pretty. He reminded her of Lucas, only a less broody, goofier Lucas. Plus, Lucas doesn't give her butterflies.
Julian's smile fell, feeling an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. ''Oh.''
''Dude, I totally kicked your butt on the bumper cars!'' Haley stated proudly as they sat on the bench where they had first met, sharing a bag of candy floss which Sylvia had just bought for them, their hands started to feel tingly when they brushed against each others if they reached into the bag at the same time.
''Did not!''
''Did to!''
''Did not!''
''Did to!''
Julian rolled his eyes as he sighed in defeat. ''Fine, you did.''
''Told ya so,'' she said, sticking her tongue out at him playfully. ''You might beat me on the go karts... nah, you won't. I'm awesome at those, too.''
''Ha ha.'' he said dryly, something he's picked up from his father other the years. ''You any good at baseball?''
Haley giggled as heat rose to her small cheeks. ''I tried out for my little league team, but then I started chasing butterflies...''
''No way!'' he exclaimed in excitement. ''Me too!''
''Did you only try out for the ice cream?'' she asked with a grin, realising they were more similar than she thought at the start. ''Because it's-''
''The best thing about little league.'' Julian interrupted her. ''Plus, I brought my whistle, and there are no whistles in baseball.''
Haley's eyes widened. ''I didn't know that, I don't even know the rules.'' she admitted. ''My best friend Lucas is good at basketball, Junk tried to teach me the rules but I couldn't understand it.''
Julian grinned that grin. ''I thought you were clever?''
''I am!'' she objected. ''The teacher always gives me gold stars, she says I'm the star pupil.''
''I bet all of your class is stupid.''
''You're stupid.''
Julian stood up with a huff. ''I bet I'll beat you at the bumper carts this time, then we'll see who's stupid.'' he declared before marching towards the bumper carts, not waiting for the girl he likes to add dramatic effect. You know, like the movies.
Haley followed him with a laugh. ''The only way you'll win is if I let you.''
''Told ya I'd win,'' Haley teased as they lay on a picnic table later on that night, looking up at the stars quietly. Well, it was quiet until the James girl decided to tease Julian on her victory for the tenth time.
Julian rolled his eyes with a laugh. ''Whatever.''
Haley looked over at him and smiled. ''Thank you.''
''What for?''
''Coming over to me.'' she stated. ''If you hadn't then I'd still be sat on my own.''
Julian shrugged nonchalantly, trying to keep it cool. ''I think someone else would, you're pretty.''
Her smile widened, as her cheeks turned red, making the eight year old be thankful for the darkness. ''You think I'm pretty?''
Julian looked at her with that grin. ''Yeah.''
''Thank you,'' she said sweetly. ''Do we have any tokens left for the bumper carts? I'll let you win this time.''
He got a weird feeling in his stomach from her kind gesture, which he knew was his crush developing. His first crush too, with Haley... he doesn't know her last name. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that he likes a girl for the first time, and it feels nice in his belly. But he doesn't get why his hearts beating really fast too. Am I having a heart attack? He panicked for a second before realising he ate an apple this morning. Sylvia always said an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so he can't possibly he having a heart attack.
''We have one,'' he said. ''But we need two.''
''You keep it then,'' Haley suggested. ''Maybe you could come back tomorrow and play.''
Julian shook his head before snapping the token in his hand, handing one half back to her. ''You keep that half, and then maybe one day we can find each other again.''
''Like The Parent Trap?''
''Yeah,'' he nodded. ''We're like two puzzle pieces.''
Haley laughed at the thought. ''You're silly.''
''Haley Bob!'' a woman's voice shouted from a couple of metres away. ''It's time to go!''
''Okay!'' Haley shouted back disappointedly, before sitting up at the same time as Julian did. ''I'm sorry. But I'll keep this token forever.'' she promised in determination, placing it in her pocket so it was safe.
''Forever and ever?''
''Yep,'' she said, popping on the 'p'. ''Bye Julian.''
Julian's felt a weird ache in his chest. Heart attack! Heart attack! He panicked, but covered it with his typical grin. ''Bye Haley, we'll see each other again, I promise.'' he declared.
She nodded before quickly kissing his cheek and hurrying away to her mother. Her stomach was hurting, and she felt like she wanted to cry. Being around him was just making that fluttering worse, so she had to leave. Because she may not see her first crush again for years, which made her sad. But she just had this feeling that she would see him again in the future.
Because he's her other half, his perfect match.
Little did she know that she would only remember who Julian was while her son was giving a best man speech at his wedding.
AN: Wow, I didn't expect to get another HJ fic out so soon, especially when I said I had no inspiration. Anyways, I'm not too impressed with this, but you guys love Juley, and I just felt the need to write some for you guys who have reviewed my other ones. It's not very well written, sorry, I just don't know how to write for eight year olds. And I know it was short, and if people don't like this then I'll probably just delete it.
Please review, it honestly makes me more and more inspired to write more HJ!