"ZACK? what the hell are you doing??"

"Uh, nothing"

"Where in the world did you get those? No one in our house smokes, did you go buy them?? GEEZ, youre 11, you could get caught you know??"

"Dont go bovine on me Taylor"

"I think you know, how bad smoking is Zack. It kills. understand ??? IT KILLS"

"I know," he started crying

"Whats wrong Zack?" he asked sympathetically

"My life...You know Julie, that girl I was talking about? She...She left me"

"What do you mean?"

"Well she called and said she wanted to just be friends"

"Zack, man, dont worry. I know, it hurts."

"NO, YOU DONT KNOW! She, Shes perfect...in every way."

"Zack, I know how you feel. There are two things that can happen right now. Either she will come to her senses soon and see what a great guy you are. Or you guys will continue to be friends, and you can continue to share great memories with her."

"Yeah...but Tay, i want more."

"I'm not going to say youre too young to understand because I know, relationships matter just as much when youre 11, or 14, or 16. And I know, they mean a lot. Just give it time Zack"

"I cant"

"Its ok Zack.

Zack lied down, crying that much had tired him. Taylor went to the head of his bed, and placed a warm hand on his head.

"Heal"

********************

Taylor walked over to the pack of cigarettes left on his desk. It shouted out to him. Why he asked himself, Why?

He roughly grabbed them and ran out of his house. He walked to the nearest trash can and threw them away.

"TAYLOR! How've u been?", asked Nikki

"Oh pretty good. Just lying around. Bummer summer, the usual"

"hey at least its summer right? Party on Friday night. Coming?"

"Yeah of course."

"I'll see you then. bring some cigarettes will ya?"

"I dont smoke"

"Uh huh....sure, c'mon it wont be expensive, just a few packs. Sorry i really gotta pedal, i need to be home..uh 10 mins ago. See ya later"

Taylor thought about how much Nikki had changed. Sure, he never really knew her, but he could see it. She was more, well, appealing. Taylor wasnt the kind to call a girl hot and go for it, but something about her, just made him feel special. Her hair was long, brown, flowing, her eyes, WOAH taylor he told himself, you dont even know her. He had changed too. In more ways than he could begin to comprehend.

"JJJUUUULIE"

"yeah yeah what do u want, Nikolas"

"woah, out of here, that sounded Bohemian."

"Its Russian Nick, Russian. And Bohemian means unconventional. It isnt a language."

"Sure Jules. Now what is it that I wanted? Oh yeah, the deal. Lana, date, you know."

"Oh THAT. I'm beginning to have second thoughts about it Nick."

"Too bad you didnt think about it before you stuffed your face with my Toblerone"

"haha, Ok you win Nick. Tell me the plan."

"Ok you see, Friday night, I leave home at around 7.00 pm. This is assuming that you have already told Mom about the 'dance'. Then I come home at around 1.00 AM, which is when you come back as well, since you have been at the 'dance' as well."

"Nick, what the hell am I going to be doing for 6 hours??"

"Go out with Nikki, or something"

"How many times do I have to tell this retarted family that we arent friends anymore??"

"Ok ok, go buy chocolate or something. I dont know, but you cant break the deal."

"Fine Fine, its all set then"

*********************************

"Mom theres a school dance this Friday, can I go?"

"Who are you going with Julie?"

This made Julie stutter for a moment. The first person that came into her mind was the boy she had met. Only, she didnt know his name, as she had finally realized.

"uh, Zack"

"Oh that kid that came over a while ago?"

"uh yeah, him"

"How old is he anyway?"

There was no way she was going to be able to get out of this saying that he was 11, after all this was a high school dance, middle schoolers couldnt come.

"14."

"Woah, he sure doesnt look like it"

"Yeah, but, hey its not looks that count right?" Julie added.

"Ok honey, you can go, what time does it end though?"

"1 AM"

"What?? I thought it was only prom that ended that late?"

"Well they have kindve changed school dance timings since middle school mom."

"..oh...hmmm...ok"

"So I can go right?"

"Yeah, Nick has to take you though. Dont worry I'll make him go, hes grounded."

"Dont worry mom, i'll ask him myself. I'm sure he'll do it" That she was sure of, she smiled to herself.

"Wow, you must really like this kid, judging from that wide grin..."

"Ah mom, don't even try."

"Kids these days, dont know how to open up to their own parents..at least its nice to know sex will never disappear."

"MOM!?"

"Whoops"