BANG!! Something hit me. Hard. I stumbled backward and felt the ground fly out from underneath my feet, and my body hit the floor. My head it the cold tiles of the middle school’s hallway so hard I started to see bright little lights phase in and out around my head like satellites. The pain went away before I could comprehend what happened, but my nose was killing me. I checked to see if it was bleeding or broken. I didn’t think so. Then, the same thought came back to me: Something just hit me! Hard! I peered up to see who’s butt was about to get a kicking. It was the door to Miss. Rose’s room.

“What the hell?” I mumbled and realized who had hit me. It was him. I found him standing n shock next to the door. My heart kicked into overdrive.

“Oh! Lily I am so sorry! Are you ok? I am so, so sorry.” He said so sincerely that I could feel the heat rush to my face again. I was turning pink…..again.

“Oh….Max…..hi.” I said meekly, with my hand still over my nose.

He asks you if you’re ok and you say hi? Nice one.

“Umm….hi,” he responded a little confused, “are...yooou.. oook?” he said it slower as if I was some foreigner unable to understand his language.

“ Yep….I-I’m…fine” I said, trying to avoid staring into his big eyes, and trust me, that was very, very hard, “I’m such a klutz.”

“No you’re not,” he said and reached down to grab my hand to help me up. His hand was almost touching mine. I thought my heart was in over drive before, but it was pumping faster than ever. The heat in my face was almost unbearable, it was one of those times I must have turned maroon. I imagined what it would feel like to hold Max Ront’s hand.

Suddenly, as his hand made contact with mine, and there was a shock that rocketed through my body. I gasped and recoiled. You just recoiled from Max. Why would you do a stupid thing like that? Max had felt it too, I could tell by the shocked look painted on his face.

“Wow,” we breathed simultaneously.

Then, I saw Miss. Rose behind us, peering around the door that had just hit me.

“Oh, Lily are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I answered from the floor.

“Oh, good.”

“Max be more careful please.”

“I will.”

She went back into her classroom, and Max helped me up. The shock happened again, and I flinched, but came to my feet.

“Ummm…” Max said, “Did you feel that too?”

“Yah...I-”

Ms. Demira appeared from room 404, with a concerned expression.

“Lily, are you alright I heard-oh,” she stopped when she noticed that Max was still holding my hand, “I’ll see you inside.” She started to walk back to the classroom, but then turned when Max wasn’t looking to give me a wink.

“Yah I d-did feel that.”

“Umm…yah that was kinda….. weird,” he said finally letting go of my hand, “was just asking Miss. Rose about our next Beta meeting….It’s next Tuesday.”

“Oh really?….I-I guess I’ll see you there.”

“Yep,” a couple of seconds went by. He shuffled his feet a bit, but looked at me as though I was supposed to say something.

“Umm....I’m going to go now,” I said awkwardly.

“Yah, me too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I watched him walk down the hall and turn the corner.

He was perfect.

Tall with wavy brown hair, gorgeous green eyes that came out even brighter when he wore a green shirt, but his looks weren’t what really mattered. He was smart and funny, and mature, unlike every other boy in the 8th grade. He even had a touch of common sense.

I bounced into Ms. Demira’s classroom, the teacher who had winked to me, with butterflies still fluttering all around my stomach, and for a second I just stood there motionless in the door way. I was still amazed by this room, even after being in and out for almost two years. It was a 6th grade Literature class. I was in the 8th grade but, I practically lived in this room. It was like a home-away-from-home. I loved everything about the room, the way it looked, and even the way it smelled, like books and freshly printed newspapers.

The room overflowed with them. They poured out of the bookshelves, and over filled the cabinets. Even Ms. Demira’s desk had piles of books of all shapes and sizes. Some even sat in piles on the floor. The desk seemed to be surrounded by them, The desk like a throne overseeing it’s kingdom of books, and sitting on the throne was Ms. Demira.

She was a woman of her mid thirties with shoulder length reddish-brown hair. From what I’ve said about the room I’m sure you could tell, she was obsessed with reading; we both were, and when I say obsessed, I mean the biggest bookworms on the face of the planet. I was there to return and discuss the latest book I had borrowed.

In a way, Ms. Demira was one of my best friends. Yea, Yea, Yea. I know what your thinking; “Friends with a teacher? Sooo weird!” But it’s just not wit her. I respected her like a teacher, of course, but I could talk to her about anything. Ms. Demira was the one to bring me back to my feet after elementary school. She told me middle school was the place to start over, and I had listened. She was the one who told me my writing was wonderful, the one who encouraged my questions, and more importantly she was the one I could really talk to. Before, I got okay grades but really had little confidence or friends. Now in Middle School, I was happy and I was a straight A student. I feel a lot of that was because Ms. Demira gave me the little push I needed. I owed her a lot, so I came to help her whenever I could.

Ms. Demira wore a smile on her face that read: Oh-my-gosh-did-I-just-see-you-holding-hands-with-Max-the-boy-you-have-a-major-crush-on?

“LLLiiiilllly!!” she sang out loudly, and I mean loudly, as I plopped onto a desk near hers’. If only I really had been holding his hand…what until I told her what really had happened. Her smile disappeared when she saw the look on my face. “What?”

“Well, I was walking down the hallway, just thinking-you know how I over think everything-and BAM, he opened the door and smacked me so hard I fell over. So it’s not like we’re dating or anything. He was just helping me up.”

She laughed, knowing I was alright, and said “You’re such a spaz,” and gave me a high five. Ms. Demira and I were huge klutzs or spazes as we called it. We were always tripping over our two feet. She taught me to accept it, and laugh at myself instead of freaking out over it.

“So that’s the noise I heard.”

“Yep. It was my hard head hitting wood! So he went to help me up and there was this weird shock between us, not like: wow great chemistry, more like an actual electric shock.”

Ms. Demira’s eyes widened a bit and she suddenly seemed a little distracted.

“What?”

“Oh-Oh nothing.”

“So I finished it!” I exclaimed pulling out a rather large book from my messenger bag. It was awesome, although I hated the beginning.”

“I know, but wasn’t the ending great?”

“Never suspected a thing,” I agreed as I put it back on one of the many bookshelves covering the walls. “ So what can I help you out with?”

“ Umm….nothing much. The girls,” she said referring to the girls all doodling on the chalkboard, “don’t have a test Monday so there just hanging out. I can’t believe it, all these girls come, and like you, none of them honestly need the extra help. There all just here to hang out. I really love my job. I’m telling you, it really pays off to love your job.”

I let out a little giggle and sighed. “Any other book recommendations?”

“Nothing at the moment…. Come to me when you’re in high school.”

“I figured.”

We carried on conversation, until the girls had left, Ms. Demiera finished her papers, and it was time to go home after a long week.