Oh! I'd nearly forgotten something.

I wanted to get something cleared up, right then and there. "Say, while I'm here, I'd like to ask you something. Something only a girl can answer."

Her face looked worried. "Uh, Spiny if you want to know what I think you want to know, I'd suggest you read up on our Biology and Body Functions textbooks."

HUH? "NO! Not that. Has nothing to do with that."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay." She sat down at her bed while I started pacing. That helps me think. "You just said I was cute. Yet, I've head others say I'm handsome. Like Mom? She always said I was handsome." I stopped pacing and looked at her. "What's the difference between cute and handsome in a guy?"

She looked off and bit her lip. I could tell what she was thinking. "Well…cute, physically cute, is like having a pretty face. Like you. You have a really nice face. I'm telling you as a fourteen-year-old teenage girl, not as your sister or friend."

"And, uh, what makes my face, um…"I was too embarrassed to say cute. I didn't want to sound like I was gloating.

She shrugged. "Well, your wavy blackish brown hair. Especially the way you comb yourself, with a parting at the left. And you don't have a single pimple. You've never had acne. And you have a nice smile. You always brush and floss. They're perfectly white. And straight."

"What about my eyes?"

"What about them?"

I tried to keep cool. I mean, I like fast, direct answers. "I've heard a lot of people talk about my eyes."

"Oh, nobody could miss that. Well, it's just…you have a real nice shade of blue…it's a dark blue, but it also is kind of brilliant. As if you wanted to put someone under a spell."

I blinked. "You sure?"

"Like I said, I'm saying it like a girl, not like your sister."

Then something popped in my mind. "Am I cute as…Chayanne?"

She kind of hesitated. "Ummm….."

"Forget I asked."

"No, wait! Matter of fact, I did a survey of all the 6th to 12th grade girls here in the city, and they all said you were cuter than Chayanne, Luis Fonsi, William Levy, and Jencarlos Canela put together."

That surprised me. "Excuse me? Did they say that?"

She nodded. "I promise that it's true."

Huh. Well, next question. "What about handsome? What's handsome?"

She thought again. "Handsome would be a guy or man that is…elegant. Neat. Someone who looks well when they're dressed up. Who knows how to pick formal clothes. And you are handsome because you look nice when you dress up. You're elegant. Formal."

I nodded. "Oh, I see. And is it possible to be cute and handsome?"

"You are."

"I am? How?"

"Well, you're handsome because you dress neat and you look attractive. But you're also cute because you look attractive whether your dressed formally or not. You have a pretty face."

I studied on that for a while. I looked at Kathy. My sister's played one or two jokes on me before. Just wanted to make sure. "Being honest here?"

"On my Oath as Princess of Amarkia."

Hmm. Sure a lot to think of. "Well, thanks anyways, Kath."

"Sure. You going to rest?"

"No, Larry and I are going go over some things." I thanked her again and left. Went to my room to finish going over all she'd said. I didn't take a nap. Just went to lie on my bed for a little while.

It was almost late afternoon by now. Around 3:39 pm. Like I said, Larry and I were going to go over some things. But we got tired of being inside the Palace, so we decided to go to Arnold's. It wasn't anything confidential. It was school-related.

We decided to go on our bikes for a change. As we left, I decided to go up to her house just to say hi. I went up and knocked on the door. This time, Lilia's dad, Mr. Woods answered. Like I said, he's elegant yet humble. And he's firm but also warm and caring. Gee, he reminded me lot of my dad. "Hello, sir," I said.

"Well hello, Spiny. Can I help you with something?"

"Well, not really. Just that Larry and I were on our way to Arnold's to do some school work and I just wanted to say hi to Lilia."

He smiled quickly. "Oh, sure. I'll get her." He closed the door and I waited. I waved at Larry and told him to go on. But he sat down and started reading an encyclopedia or something. Finally, Lilia came out. "Oh, hi."

"Hey, how are you?" I said, trying to sound confident.

"Oh, fine." She looked down. Uh oh. She was going to talk about when I'd…I quickly felt my face flush.

She pointed to the swinging porch couch. "Want to sit down?"

I didn't hesitate. "Sure."

We sat down. Of course, I waited for her to sit down first, then I sat down. We sat there quiet for a while, then she said. "Um, Spiny?"

"Yeah?"

She looked down at her hands. "How come you…" Uh oh. Here it came. My stomach got real sour.

"…how come you kissed me yesterday?"

I panicked. I didn't know what to say. "Oh, I…I…well…that is, uh…I, I guess I just did because I…wanted to."

She looked at me and…scooched closer to me. We were so close that our shoulders were touching. "Why did you want to kiss me?"

I looked down again. What I would have to say next would not require for me to make eye contact. If I could even say it. I felt the grip of fear tightening around my throat. I was terrified to even look at her. For one of the few times in my life, my mind drew a blank. I, I just drew a blank. My mind just went empty.

All I did was shrug. "Don't know," I said quietly.

"Lilia!" her mom's voice called.

She turned around and then said, "My mom's calling. I gotta go."

I nodded. "Okay. See you later, then?"

She nodded and smiled. "Sure. Really hoping to see you at the dance."

We both stood up and I started to leave the porch, when she called me back. I turned around and said, "Yeah?"

She walked up to me slowly and put her hand on my shoulder. "Thanks." Her voice was so sweet. Then she leaned closer and kissed me. Right next to the lips. It felt like fire on my trembling ice of skin.

It made my lips quiver, and sent hot blood rushing through my veins. Her lips were so soft, they were like…can't describe it. I just can't describe it. All I know is that my entire circulatory and respiratory systems had frozen. My hands were shaking so bad you would've thought I had severe hypothermia.

And it wasn't just a quick peck. Her kiss lasted five seconds. Then, she looked at me straight in the eyes, smiled, and then ran like crazy back to her house, slamming the door behind her.

I just stood there, looking, well staring at her house. I felt that same warm, soothing feeling in my chest. Almost numb. Then, I felt a smile spreading across my face. I touched the place where she'd kissed me. You won't believe this, but the spot on where she'd kissed me was actually quivering. I mean it! Like a tub of Jell-O.

Anyways, I walked back across the street, where Larry was still waiting. He was sitting on a rock, reading a magazine on his tablet. He had his back to me. I tapped him on the shoulder, and whoa! He almost had a heart attack. He squealed and jumped in all directions, landing right on his head.

Kind of amusing, you know.

A few minutes later, we were in Arnold's trying to decide what to do for our first big science project. We didn't know whether to make a giant volcano, or to make invisible paint.

We were looking at our science papers, when he slammed the pencil against the desk. "This science teacher kills me with this kind of homework! How are we supposed to to do this impossible work?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. I was thinking…instead of doing an actual experiment, how about we just do an essay or written work?"

He looked up. "Think it'll be more convenient?"

"Teacher didn't say we had to do an actual experiment."

He stood up. "I'll be back."

"Where you going?"

"To the restroom. The only place that's quiet and where I can concentrate on school work."

I chuckled at that. "All right. Don't take long."

Well, he left and I tried to get some idea for that science project. It was worth a lot of points.

I was lost deep in thought, figuring out how to graduate early, when someone walked into the restaurant. Someone that would receive untold "boo's" and hisses if in front of a studio audience. Yep. Kylie Anderson. She had the whole cheerleader team with her. Obviously, they all had their cheerleading uniforms. Some even had…I don't know what they're called. Those things cheerleaders wave in their hands.

Anyways, she saw me, uh, alone sitting at the booth. Should've told Larry to wait here. Or maybe I should've waited for Larry in the bathroom.

I instantly knew that I was in deep trouble, when Kylie smiled at me and her eyes sparkled. With evil charm, you might say.

The charm and the smile told me that I was trouble. When the entire cheerleading followed Kylie to my booth, and sat in the booth behind her, looking at me with dopey smiles, I knew I was really in trouble.

When Kylie's smile got bigger and she said, "Hi, charming!" I knew I was dead.

(When I say, "Oh, boy," it means I'm about to get in trouble. The longer the "Oh," the bigger the trouble will be.)

So without further ado…..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy!