“Thud! Thud! Thud!” my heart pounded through my raggedy t-shirt that I got from my trip to Disney World a few summers back. I was in Mrs. Ferguson’s science class in third block. She is the meanest teacher in school and she always wears bright red glasses. As I sat in her class, I thought I was about to have a heart attack from the news that just entered my brain. The most popular and prettiest girl in the ninth grade, Hannah Burlington, was going to be my volcano project partner. Now, I’m not the coolest guy in school nor the geekiest, at least I don’t think so. I’m not the typical jock either, although I do play golf, if you would even consider that a sport. I’m pretty nice to everyone, but when I’m around Hannah my words just get mixed up as if I’m trying to talk while riding on a roller coaster. She has long brown hair, freckles on her nose, and a bright lime green purse always on her arm. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see her bright lime green purse coming my way.

“So Jake, I guess we’re partners,” she said in her soft, sweet voice.

“Yeah, partners, like we’re married!” I nervously giggled and then regretted everything that had just spilled out of my mouth.

Thus began the first real conversation I had ever had with Hannah. Her glistening green eyes stared down at my shirt and then her eyes met mine in excitement.

“Disney World,” she remarked. “I’ve been there billions of times! What’s your favorite ride?”

“Um… I guess it would be the Tower of Terror,” I replied while gazing at her, mentally counting each little freckle.

“Oh my gosh! Me too!” she shrieked.

Throughout all of science we chatted about everything possible from TV shows to music, to somehow our dislike of the cafeteria fries that every other student loved. I couldn’t believe that it had only been an hour since our first words. When the bell finally rang I looked down at my paper and saw nothing. To my disbelief, we didn’t have a single question answered or planned any of our volcano.

“Listen, Jake. Do you want to walk home with me and do the rest of our project there?” Hannah said shyly.

“Sure!” I replied quickly without even thinking.

Throughout the rest of lunch, Spanish, and geometry I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had agreed to. I don’t want to go to her house! I might say or do something stupid or something else could go wrong. Maybe she doesn’t want me at her house. She just wants to finish the project and then get me out as quick as possible.

As the bell rang at the end of the day I nervously ran down the stairs and met her at the sidewalk.

“Hey Hannah,” I shouted through my huge grin.

“Hey, Jake! Are you ready to talk about volcanoes instead of fries this time?” she said sarcastically.

“Sure am!” I said trying to play along with the sarcasm.

We leisurely walked down the sidewalk, across the road, and to her house. I began to sweat as she got out her keys and walked onto her white carpet floors. Her house smelled of a mixture of lavender and musty dog. On the ground was her little white poodle yapping at her feet. As we went through a maze of hallways we reached her bedroom. She slowly turned the golden knob and opened the door. Her room was about as messy as mine and surprisingly had Tiger Woods posters above her pink bed.

“Tiger Woods?” I questioned her with a confused look on my face.

“Yeah, I’ve always had an obsession with golf and I think he’s kinda cute,” she giggled nervously.

“Are you serious? I play golf and he is definitely my hero,” I said excitedly.

Somehow through all our chatter and gossip, we managed to finish our volcano project. It had bright red lava flowing out and at the bottom we created a tiny village of people who look like they’re running away.
We now sat on her bedroom floor, her back against her bed and me leaning on her withered dresser in silence. She was staring at me with a smirk on her face and I was staring back at her. Suddenly, she leaned forward closer and closer coming towards me. I froze in fear and held her gaze until she got so close it almost made me cross-eyed. Her soft lips pressed against mine as I held my breath. She moved back and we both smiled.