Shareena and Emmitt talked on the phone late the next morning to discuss what they wanted to do. They decided on trying one of the voodoo spells, since they wanted to get back at Shelley for her dress stunt at the dance.
Shareena arrived at Emmitt's place - since she didn't want her parents to know what they were doing - and she and Emmitt looked for a proper voodoo spell. The book was written for kids, so there wasn't anything worse than a cut on the arm, but one spell in particular caught Shareena's eye.
"'Make your victim look like a fashion disaster.'" Shareena read from the book. "Cool, this spell turns your victim's clothing into the opposite of their style."
"Neat, how long does the spell last?" Emmitt asked.
"Only a few days." Shareena replied.
"Still, nice, let's do it." Emmitt smiled.
"All right!" Shareena agreed enthusiastically.
They prepared the spell and conjured it, fortunately they were able to get all the ingredients. Some required a trip to the store, but there was one close enough to Emmitt's house so no trouble. The only setback they got was when they needed some witchy ingredients, but Shareena knew of this Wiccan store only a bus ride away so they were able to finish the spell that same day. They didn't want to purposefully seek out Shelley in order to find out if the spell worked or not, so they decided to just play some of Emmitt's board games for the rest of the day. During one game the die rolled under the bed, and Shareena and Emmitt both went to get them. This resulted in Emmitt placing his hand on Shareena's, causing them to freeze. They then slowly brought their hands out from under the bed without letting go, and awkwardly glanced at each other.
"Oh, er, sorry about that." Emmitt blushed, taking his hand away.
However, this brief touch did something to Shareena: it made her realize that despite Emmitt having dealt with Shelley's crush, her love for him was not something to hide...not any longer.
"It's okay Emmitt, actually it felt nice." She smiled.
"Really?" Emmitt smiled back.
"Yes in fact..." Shareena took Emmit's hand back.
This caused both of their hearts to speed, and Shareena knew it was time.
"In fact, Emmitt, I know you've had to tolerate Shelley's crush on you but there's something I can't keep to myself." Shareena sighed, preparing herself for rejection.
"What is it?" Emmitt asked, a little worried.
"I...I'm in love with you." Shareena admitted.
Emmitt dropped his mouth open, and after a few seconds shut it again and smiled.
"Shareena...I'm in love with you." Emmitt held her hands with both of his hands.
Shareena looked at him with happy surprise. They then gazed into each other's eyes and again they both felt the urge to kiss. They weren't so sure about it though.
"Wait, if I kiss Emmitt and it doesn't feel right then I'm worse than Shelley." Shareena thought. "At least Shelley never misled Emmitt. Well, except for the whole dress thing but I'm sure that was just a reaction to my taking Emmitt to the dance. I don't want to hurt Emmitt yet my heart can't wait any longer."
"Oh no, not again." Emmitt thought. "No, I'm still staying in control Shareena is not going to steal my heart. Winning my love is good enough she doesn't need my heart. No, no kissing until I'm ready, got that heart. No heart, don't succumb to her bewitchery."
They couldn't fight it any longer.
"Fine, you win, just know that you'll be feeling most of the pain if Emmitt gets hurt."
"That's weird, I can't fight it, I'm...leaning in for a kiss. I can't pull back or even stop, what is going on? Wait, this tugging feeling at my chest...oh no, did she already steal my heart without me knowing?"
And, they kissed. It didn't take them long completely succumb to the kiss either. Soon, their arms were wrapped around each other, their chests were touching so that they felt each other's heartbeats, and they completely forgot about the game they were playing earlier.
"Wow, there...was nothing...to worry about...Emmit's the one..." Shareena thought before starting to feel as if she was melting; and metaphorically, she did, she melted right into Emmit's arms.
"Great, Shareena did steal my heart...which she can do anytime she wants...she can have my soul too, it doesn't matter as long as I have her." Emmitt started to lose control; he quickly got it back and opened his eyes. "Whoa, what am I thinking, I need both my heart and my soul...wait a minute." Emmitt had just noticed Shareena had metaphorically melted into his arms. "Gee, Shareena's not only bewitching, she's bewitched. Maybe I don't have to worry about her stealing my heart." Emmitt then felt something in his and Shareena's chests. "Especially since we're apparently sharing one...wait, sharing one? No way, only one heartbeat, where's the other heartbeat? Either one of us did lose a heart or...no way...did our hearts actually combine themselves?"
Since Emmitt didn't have to worry about his heart getting stolen, he decided to just relax and melt into the kiss. That's when he discovered that it was true, his and Shareena's hearts did combine into one, or, literally, beat as one.
It was a few minutes, but eventually Emmitt and Shareena stopped kissing. No words were needed, for they both knew the truth and could see it in each other's eyes. They just hugged, until they recovered from the melting sensation they had both experienced. That was then they remembered the game, so Emmitt found the die and they continued playing. The rest of the day went on as normal, except this time they were smiling, lovestruck, at each other. When it was time for Shareena to go Shareena and Emmitt obviously didn't want that to happen, but they accepted it. Before they went downstairs, they decided to have a talk.
"Shareena, I've been thinking that maybe we shouldn't tell the rest of the gang yet." Emmitt said. "I don't think they'll take it well now."
"I was thinking the same thing." Shareena agreed. "How about we wait until high school?"
"Sounds good." Emmitt nodded.
They then went downstairs.
"This was the best day of my life, thank you." Shareena smiled as she stood in the doorway.
"Same to you." Emmitt smiled back.
Not being able to help it, they kissed again, forgetting that Emmitt's parents were there. When they stopped Shareena smiled sweetly at him, said good-bye, and left. Emmitt grinned, completely in love, until he turned and saw his parents there looking shocked.
"Uh-oh..." Emmitt paled.
"No son, it's fine, Shareena is a smart and kind young lady." Mr. Roswell said. "Only, don't you think you're moving a little too fast?"
"We couldn't help it dad, our hearts took over." Emmitt admitted. "Plus...I think she's the one."
Both of his parents looked stunned.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Roswell asked.
"Well, my heart is but my brain isn't, so I guess the answer is no." Emmitt looked sad.
To his surprise, both his parents smiled.
"Actually son, the answer is yes." Mr. Roswell smiled. "When it comes to love the heart knows all."
"Then why do some people get these stupid crushes on each other?" Emmitt said, confused.
"Because sometimes hormones can fool the brain." Mrs. Roswell explained. "They can never fool the heart though, which is why people eventually grow out of their crushes."
Emmitt smiled, relieved. He then told his parents about how he and Shareena became a couple and how they were going to keep it a secret until high school. His parents approved, so Emmitt had no more worries.
In Shareena's bedroom...
Of course Shareena wasn't going to tell her parents about her and Emmitt, so quickly switched to one of her usual expressions before going inside her house. She switched back to her lovestruck smile when she reached her attic, and then she shut the extra door so that her parents couldn't walk in on her unexpectedly.
"Pig, you were right, Emmitt and I are meant to be." Shareena smiled, lying down on her bed. "I never felt so happy before, no wonder some girls get giddy about romance. Still, I'm not going to be like them. Emmitt loves me for who I am so I'm not changing a thing. *Sigh*, I now understand that expression about dying and going to heaven, that's how I feel."
Pig happily jumped up next to Shareena and lay down next to her.
"We're keeping this a secret from the others until high school begins though so no squealing." Shareena winked, pretending to be stern with Pig. "And especially never squeal to my parents, that's a direct order."
Pig then squealed/laughed. Shareena laughed too.
"Yes, you can squeal to me." She chuckled.