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It was the day we were to be assigned partners in Mrs. Mooney's 6th grade science class and I had my heart set on her. By this time she had hit puberty and hit it hard. She had been wearing a bra for a year now, due more to necessity than to "be cool." Unfortunately for me, I had recently hit puberty as well, making her appearance no easier to bear. Walking with my books in front of my crotch had become routine for me even without seeing her.
On that particular day she was wearing a white polo shirt which she had owned for the past couple of years and which was clearly too small for her. She also wore a pink jumper which I was positive was shorter than the dress code should have allowed. She made-up her face as only a pre-teen using make-up for the first time could. Pink eyeshadow was applied heavily to her lids, black eyeliner was overused, giving her the Cleopatra look, and pale pink lip gloss was smudged across her mouth. Yet, she still caught the attention of every boy in the class and she was aware of this fact.
When Mrs. Mooney said that she would be announcing the lab partners, I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes. When her name was called, I held my breath.
"And you," Mrs. Mooney said to her, "will be paired with...David Jacobs."
A huge gust of wind was blown out of me. I whipped around and saw the two of them set up at one of the lab tables. He smiled at her and she giggled in an obvious "pre-teen" attempt to flirt. Despite my feelings for her, even I could see through her act. David Jacobs was the smartest kid in our grade and being partners with him almost always guaranteed an 'A' in the class. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head, figuring out how she could manipulate him into doing all the work for her. He, of course, was lapping up her attention like honey.
Grumbling, I took a seat with my appointed partner, Dora Mason who I think was currently suffering from pink eye. With that eye she looked into the microscope we were to share and adjusted the lens accordingly. Looking up she passed the microscope to me so that I too could look at whatever was lying there. As I hesitantly looked into the eyepiece, I knew I'd be glad to do all of the work for her (even if I was only rewarded with false flirtations) any day.