Chapter 2: Moments that count

May 2003 part 1

Twelve-year-old Ashley Spinelli glanced up at the clock as she sat in class, which she was convinced was going slower than it should be. Her best friend, TJ Detweiler was sat next to her, they exchanged exasperated glances. Their fellow sixth graders seemed to almost be in a slumber, apart from Gretchen of course; but even she didn't seem to be concentrating to her usual unwavering level.

"Anyone?" snapped Mr Miller "Do none of you have the answer? Just because tomorrow is your last day of school, does not give you reason to not pay attention!" Gretchen, who had been slumped in her chair slightly, straightened herself up with a slight jump at the teachers shout, and raised her hand eagerly, clearly wanting to make up for her lack of classmanship "Yes, Gretchen?"

Spinelli turned her attentions back to graffiting the school desk as TJ exhaled, letting out a long breath as he stretched his out his legs, and his hands across the desk, unintentionally brushing Spinelli's hand as he did this. They exchanged a small glance, TJ smiling slightly at her, not moving his hand, as his little finger remained in contact with hers. Spinelli put down her pen, letting her hand rest, flatly on the school desk, wiggling her finger just a fraction, so it gently rubbed against TJ's hand. She bit her lip, to force herself to repress the dorky grin that was trying to spread across her face. Spinelli quickly looked away from TJ, to hide her uncontainable dorky grin, and act as though she was unaware of the contact between them. However, she failed miserably, regularly sneaking glances at her best friend. For several minutes, she continued the same movement, neither saying anything, both just enjoying their subtle contact. Glancing at Spinelli, evaluating her response, TJ slid two of his fingers over hers, gently caressing her fingers. Spinelli looked at TJ unable to contain the smile that spread widely across her face; TJ was sporting an equal grin, as he looked back Spinelli. Slowly, as the class went on, TJ had slid his hand over Spinelli's, in almost unnoticeable small movements, until it rested completely over hers. None of their fellow classmates around took notice. When the bell rang, signalling recess, TJ and Spinelli quickly moved their hands before anyone could notice, both feeling reluctant about this, and made their way out of class.

"Right then gang" said TJ, his friends gathering around him "we only have one more recess left tomorrow, and then we're all off to our summer camps-"

"-apart from me" muttered Spinelli, feeling irritable. Her parents had told her they couldn't afford to send her to camp, because of troubles with her Father's job.

"All the more reason to make this recess count Spin, especially since Gus's Dad may be re-deployed to Texas" said TJ "Before we know it summer will be over, we'll all be starting Middle School, and the way I hear it, recess in Middle School whomps!"

"Well said Teej" nodded Vince "Come on, everyone put their hands in" Vince held out his hand, in the middle of the circle they'd formed, waiting for his friends to follow his lead "on the count of three, make it count, one, two, three"

"MAKE IT COUNT" shouted the gang, throwing their arms in the air before they broke ranks, and run toward Old Rusty.

"Hey Teej" said Spinelli, catching TJ's arm, to stop him joining his friends. Overwhelmed with nerves she looked down at her feet as she shuffled them awkwardly "Um... were you, uh... holding my hand in class?"

"Why? Did-did you like it?" asked TJ, his heart pounding in his chest, looking at his best friend, who was still looking determinedly at the floor.

Spinelli's mind began to race, what was she doing? Could she backtrack? What if he wasn't holding her hand? What if this blew up in a face, and made her look like an idiot! But she'd started, now! She'd asked the question, it was too late to backtrack. She pressed on, ignoring the doubts in her mind

"M-maybe" said Spinelli, in barley a whisper, as she chewed her lip. Spinelli wiped the palms of her hands in her jeans, which were coated in a nervous sweat, finally looking up to meet TJ's blue eyes, finding him a lot closer than she'd expected. Spinelli immediately felt the butterflies in her tummy.

Suddenly everything was silent, neither aware of the gleeful chaos of recess that was surrounding them. The pair were vaguely aware of the last time this had happened, over two years ago, in their fourth-grade experiment. In an unspoken understanding, they learned toward each other, eyes closed, their lips touching, for the briefest of sheer blissful moment when-

"HEY YOU GUYS" The pair leapt apart, as though electrocuted, as Gus's voice jolted them back to reality. Seemingly unaware of what he'd just disturbed, their pint-sized friend remained optimistic he wouldn't have to move away, and seemed to be trying to have as much fun as possible "Are you coming? You better hurry; Hustler Kid is selling hall passes for Middle School! You can walk the corridors all you want with those puppies, and not get stopped by the teachers!"

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Chapter two! I hope you liked it, a bit of a contrast to Spinelli's life in the current chapter! Thank you to those that reviewed the first chapter, and added the story as a favourite! I'm currently proofreading further on in the story (I cant wait until I post those chapters, I love them so much!) I'm also tweaking the end of story! Its looking as though the story will be 64 chapters long, I'd really love it if those who are reading would stick with me!

JACK5T3R: Thank you so much for your review! And in particular, for being my first reviewer! I'm glad you liked the start, and you're interested to see where the story goes, as you can see, we've gone back in time, so we'll get to see what's led Spinelli to where she is in Chapter 1, and how her life progresses from there!

Rose-Aki: Thank you! Its so great to still have you reading and reviewing my stories, after so long! As you can see, we've gone back in time a few years, so I hope you liked seeing the TJ and Spinelli we know a little better!

Please review, it would make my day! If not, and you can offer me some constructive criticism, please do! I will just ask for "no flames" please? I am dyslexic, and have worked hard to make sure this is perfect, but if you see any, please highlight any spelling/grammar errors that I've missed in proof reading, please highlight them, so I can correct!

I will update as soon as possible, but can't update every day.

Big Cliffy Meanie