Pretend Leslie never died. I hate doing this. But I have to. The idea is adorable.

Leslie Burke sat on the branches of the tree in her backyard. They were strong enough to hold her, and she loved to sit there. It reminded her of Teribithia with Jess, her best friend. They hadn't done that since they were fifteen, and that was two years ago. Now they were seventeen. She considered him her brother, pretty much. She knew Jess probably thought of her as a cousin at most, since she was sick of all his sisters.

"Weirdo," she turned around to meet Jess's eyes. They reminded her of woods with all the different shades of brown and green. "Wanna bump me a space?"

Leslie smiled and moved closer to the branches on her left. She could feel his jeans brush against her leg. She would've flinched if it was anyone but Jess. She stared at him, noticing his hair was shorter and punched him lightly.

"You got a haircut? It looks terrible," she teased.

"Funny," he said and ran his fingers through his hair. "I look good. Admit it."

"Whatever you say, Jess."

"You're jealous."

"Yes, okay."

Jess leaned against the branch and looked at Leslie. She looked at him, her blue eyes dancing. The branch snapped and Jess fell off the tree. Thankfully, it wasn't high enough to hurt him badly, but he winced at first then started laughing when Leslie came down from the tree to check on him.

"It's not funny! You scared me," she laughed. She didn't realize that when Jess stood up, his face was inches from her face. She looked at him, the whole world stopped. What was about to happen?

Leslie was about to lean in, but Jess beat her to it. At first it was a little awkward, so he pulled away and looked at her shocked. His already round eyes became close-to-perfect circles and he looked away. He sat on the ground; she followed suit. Leslie smiled and touched his neck to let him know it was fine. He looked at her and was surprised by the her lips touching his again.

Leslie was a little tense after doing this, but she felt as Jess started to respond and she knew she just had to. By impulse her hands touched his face, but his remained glued to the green grass. Right there, on the summer breeze, Leslie could feel sparks. She had only read about this stuff, but not even the most descriptive of authors could tell her how this felt.

So this is what it felt like to be kissed. By her best friend. Her best friend...

Jess pulled away and looked at her eyes. Leslie smiled when she pulled her into a hug and whispered, "You take my breath away."

She smiled. He continued, "So...?"

"So...?" she echoed. "You want to be more than friends, don't you?"

"Yes," he said. "Do you?"

"Yes."

Her first love was her best friend. In her head, she sang, I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend.

Oh yes, and I don't think that AnnaSophia and Josh make a good couple. I own Josh Hutcherson, kay? Just kidding that's not why.