Music for this part: "Remember not to forget" by audio machine watch?v=SEMuUZ0tdvo

I first saw Lara Jean Song Covey on the first day of 6th grade, at the assembly, when a kid with long black hair sat in front of me. She had a headband with a bow and I thought it was kind of cute. She turned to me and smiled. I smiled back without trying. Later the principal called us for a game, I raised my hand and I got picked, along with a bunch of other kids we went to stage. I was looking for her, she was not there on stage. Her long hair was stuck with the chair. I thought I could go there and help her untangle it but seemed a little preposterous. I didn't know her yet.

Lara Jean and I got to know each other a bit later in 7th grade. We were lab mates. She was a straight-A kid who prevented me from blowing up anything in Chem lab. We had fun. She was awfully quiet sometimes. I understood it mustn't have been easy for anyone to lose their mother. The very thought of it would make my 12-year-old stomach growl. So I tried to be there for her as much as I could. In occasions I have seen her looking at other kid's mothers and she had that look on her face, like the look you get when you are the only one who hadn't received christmas present. I thought of bringing her home sometimes, my mother was always talking how she wanted a daughter and had Owen instead. But the atmosphere at the house seemed tense those days. My dad was busy for we didn't know what and mom was kind of distant. Bringing Lara Jean into this didn't seem right. Sometimes we would hang out in the tree house with John McClearen and Genevieve. Sometimes Christine and Trevor joined us too. During those days, Genevieve was her best friend and I was glad that she had people around her to keep her happy.

Everything changed when we went for a real boy-girl party for the first time in seventh grade. It was at John's house. She was wearing something cute as far as I remember. She was always very neat.

That evening while playing spin the bottle, it was Lara Jean and I who had to do the unspeakable. Funny how kissing was a big deal back then. It was our turn and one can't cheat the bottle. We kissed. It was really quick and tongueless, but to a boy in seventh grade who never had any girlfriends, it was hot. She even smiled back at me. I had a huge crush on her from that moment, couldn't help but think how cute she was looking that evening. Although I was always protective of her, suddenly it appeared to me that I was attracted to her too. Like yesterday she was my lab mate hitting my hand whenever I touched a wrong chemical, but after the kiss I started seeing her as a girl. A girl who could be more than my friend if she wanted to. And that was it, Covey started to kind of avoid me at school after the incident, would barely talk to me during lab hours and eventually, we drifted away. Maybe she didn't like the fact that I kissed her. I never knew why.

She and Gen also became distant. While at the cafeteria I caught them fighting quite a few times. Well mostly Gen was being temperamental and Lara Jean would not protest much. Then one day -

"Hey give it back Genevieve, it's not yours to keep!" Lara Jean seemed furious during the lunch hours I had never seen her that way.
"It's mine now!" Gen replied sitting on the table.
"That's one of the last things from my mother you psycho!"
"I'll give back when I get what is mine." She smiled crookedly and glanced at me then looking at her again. "Just so to remind you, you took what is mine first." I had no idea what she was talking about.
Lara Jean didn't say anything her eyes were filled with tears and she left the cafeteria. I followed her and found her in the staircase crying in Sanderson's arms. He was her neighbor. They always hung out together. I asked her what just had happened. She didn't reply as she was crying really hard. Did she even notice me?

"Gen took her mother's pin. It's important to her." Sanderson replied.

Although I didn't like the fact that Sanderson replied, I thought I would get it back for her. At the end of the school, I asked Gen to come to the herb garden. I didn't want to make a fuss in front of everyone while I confronted her. She came there five minutes late as I was already there.

"Hey, Peter what's the urgency." She asked me in a sweet voice.

"You took Covey's pin, and you were harsh to her in the cafeteria." I maintained firmness in my voice "It belonged to her mother. She is upset."

"It's that what she told you?" She asked unamused.

"Well Sanderson did, she was crying." I mentioned that hoping she would understand how bad she made Lara Jean feel.

She laughed. "Oh, Peter you are so concerned about her." She said. "It was Lara Jean who made me say those things in the cafeteria so that Josh feels bad for her." She paused for a second. "You see Lara Jean has a crush on him." She rolled her eyes.

Lara Jean had a crush on Josh? That was news to me. My twelve-year-old self-was shocked but then I could see it. They were neighbours and practically inseparable since forever, besides Gen, he was her only friend to whom she was close to. They even rid the bus together. Now I realised why Lara Jean had stopped talking to me after our kiss.

Gen was looking at me still smiling. I put up a brave face and said, "Well good for them."

"You know I like you. If you want we could be more than friends just like Lara Jean and Josh".

I was not expecting that. Instead, it was the last thing on my mind. "I will think about it," I told her to escape the situation.