Author's Note: This is the beginning chapter to a story of a boy
and girl discovering sex together.



Summary: A 4th grader goes to the school dance with his crush.

(bg, nosex, rom)



  Still tired, I leaned back in the hard seat that I was sharing
with a brown-haired boy with glasses. My light blue bookbag kept
my head from touching the seat. Most of the other kids on the bus
weren't as tired me, since there was loud talking all around me.
That and all the bumps in the street made it hard to get back to
sleep. Before I knew it, the bus stopped and School 13 was
outside the window that I was sitting next to.

  Two rows of rectangle windows reached from side to side of the
building made out of bricks. The roof was black and shaded a lot
of the sidewalk. Two red doors with windows in their middles were
inside a white doorway. "SCHOOL 13" was written on a sideways
line that was above the doors. A whole bunch of students were by
the doors, anxious to escape the outside cold.

  When the fat bus aide told us to, we stood up. In a crooked
line, we left the bus and joined the kids who were waiting for
the guys to open the doors.
      ___________________________________________

  Six groups of four metal desks put together were placed all
over my almost-empty homebase classroom. The walls were made out
of big, white blocks. Blue wallpaper covered them from the
ceiling to my stomach, and was surrounded by pictures of school
stuff like notebooks and pencils. In front of the room was the
blackboard (Why do they call it a "blackboard" when it's green?).
Sitting in front of the greenboard was the gray teacher's desk.

  My desk was in the first group on the left side of the door.
Nobody in my group came yet. I put my bookbag on the wooden floor
and went into the coatroom in the back of the class.

  One ceiling light brightened the whole coatroom that looked
like a little hallway. Two doors on either side let us in and
out. There were only five coats hung up.

  "Hey," a classmate named Greta greeted me. She had brown hair
down to her shoulders. Her oval-shaped face had little, green
eyes and a big nose. A purple coat covered her from neck to
knees. Black sweatpants were on her legs and black sneakers were
on her feet.

  "Hi." After taking it off, I hung up my black coat, which was
white on the inside. I wore a dark green sweater that my dead
father gave me. Also, I wore a pair of blue jeans and black
sneakers. Then I went back into class. A few more students were
walking into the coatroom.

  By the way, my name is Gabriel. I have black eyes and a little
nose. Short, black hair covers my head. I'm 9 years old and I'm
in the fourth grade. A lot of teachers say I'm their favorite,
but I'm not one of those geeks. I'm not good at sports, so I hate
gym.

  On my desk was a purple, rectangle card. As I got to my chair,
then sat down, I picked up the small card and looked at it.
Princess Jasmine and "Prince Ali" were sitting on the magic
carpet with his legs folded and her legs stacked on her right
side. White fireworks were blowing up in the cloudy, nighttime
sky. The bottom of the card read "Happy Valentine's Day" in the
Aladdin letters.

  I turned the card over and looked at its white back.

  To: Gabriel

  From: Sera

  I turned around to look for Sera. Her red bookbag with Pikachu
on the back was on the floor by the desk across from mine. More
students were in class now, but I couldn't see her. Wow. She
really gave me a Valentine.

  Me and Sera first met when I got transferred here last month. I
got transferred 'cause I skipped mad days of my old school. Sera
and two other girls sat by me in lunch, probly (probably) 'cause
they felt sorry for the new kid. Since then, we been following
each other in hallways and recess, and sitting by each other in
lunch and classes that don't have assigned seats. Out of the
three girls, Sera talks to me the most, so we're the best
friends.

  I know, it's weird for a boy and girl to be best friends.
Still, she's just as fun as the guys in my class. She even likes
Poke'mon as much as I do; most girls only like the cartoon, but
she likes everything. We talk about the Poke'mon cartoon and
trade cards a lot, even though we have to play cards during
recess 'cause we'll get in trouble. Plus, she's really cute and
funny.

  You see, I really like Sera. Ever since the day I met her, I
liked her as more than a friend. I don't know if she likes me
back, though.

  Sera and her other best friend, Greta, were coming out of the
coatroom together, not looking at me. Sera must have went into
the coatroom just when I left. They came toward me until Greta
had to walk to her desk on the other side of the room, by the
window.

  "Heeeeeey, yo," Sera greeted with a wave. She sat in the chair
across from me and folded her hands on it.

  "Hi," I smiled.

  Sera was a Chinese girl with a round face. A red scrunch held
her black hair into a big ponytail that touch her back. She was
wearing a red shirt with tiny, white polkadots.

  "Thanks for the Valentine, Sera." I held it up to her.

  "You're welcome," she said with a really, really, pretty smile.
"I asked my mother to buy me one so I could give it to you."

  I felt a little bit disappointed. "You didn't have to. I wish I
could have made one for you."

  "It's okay. Friends don't really have to give each other
valentines. I did just 'cause I wanted to."

  The bell rang. Mrs. Angeles walked in wearing black pants,
shiny, black boots, and a brown coat. She took the coat off and
put it on the back of her chair; she was wearing a white shirt.
Curly, brown hair covered her ears and went down to her back. Her
face had freckles on the cheeks. Green eyes were by a triangle
nose.

  "Good morning, class."

  "Good morning, Mrs. Angeles," most of the kids, including me
and Sera, said over the chatter of others.

  The rest of our homeroom/Social Studies class, then second and
third periods, went by as normal.
      ___________________________________________

  The bell signaled the end of third period. I dropped my
Language Arts workbook into my bookbag and tossed the bag over my
back. Sera, Greta, and Jan were talking while walking down a side
line of desks. I stood at the end of the row of seats, near the
line of some of my classmates, and waited for them.

  Jan was Sera's other other best friend. She had a bun of black
hair. She wore a green turtleneck shirt with blue jeans and white
sneakers. Green eyes and a little nose were on her
rectangle-shaped face.

  All four of us walked out of the room and joined to the line
that was in front of room 216. The walls were white and the room
numbers were on green posters by the doors. Other kids were lined
up by the doors of their next classes.

  I turned around to look at Sera. "So... are you ready for the
dance tonight?"

  Her eyes grew with excitement, which happens a lot. "Yeah!
It'll be so cool!"

  "You're going with somebody?" I felt myself get worried as I
waited for her to say something back.

  The line marched into the classroom where we learn music (The
stupidest class ever). I turned and followed it. Colorful mats
were stacked on top of each other, made to look like three
stairs. I sat on the green bottom mat that was closest to the
door. The girls sat next to me. Sera, Jan, and Greta to my right.

  "No. I'm just going for fun. I like parties." She raised her
fists and moved them like she was playing a drum. With her mouth,
she made cymbal sounds.

  "Oh."

  "Are you going?"

  "Um, yeah. I-I'm going."

  Sera dropped her jaw in her sign of excitement. "Cool. Maybe we
can dance together." She broke into a big smile.

  Her face was so cute that I had to return my own smile -- even
though it was a sloppy, stupid-looking one. That, and the thought
of what she just said. Sera actually wants to go to the dance
with me!

  "Cool."
      ___________________________________________

  After lunch, -- we had triangle-shaped slices of grilled
cheese, half oranges, and potato wedges (They're gross. They
don't taste like fries to me!) -- me and the girls went outside.
The four of us sat in our favorite spot -- right outside the
windows of our homeroom. I sat on the ground and Sera, who was
wearing a pink jacket, sat in front of me. Wearing a green
jacket, Jan sat on my left, and Greta sat on my right.

  Recess was right behind the school building. Windows to
classrooms were on the building. Metal fences were spaced really
far apart, giving four homerooms worth of kids a lot of room to
play. The ground was made of that black stuff that they use to
make parking lots.

  Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a bunch of Poke'mon
cards. Sera did, too. She had a little more than me. I put most
of my stack down and held the rest up like I was playing cards,
but I was really looking through them. It was cold out, but not
windy enough to blow them out of my hands.

  "I traded my Wartortle yesterday," I said. "I got a Geodude." I
showed it to Sera.

  Geodude's picture was on a brown card with yellow on the edges.
He looked blacker than on the show. He was punching his way out
of some red lova (lava).

  "Wow," Greta said. She and Jan don't have Poke'mon cards. They
just watch me and Sera battle and trade ours.

  "Wanna trade it for my Gastly? I have doubles of it, and I
don't have Geodude."

  "Yeah." I picked out my Geodude card and held it out to her.
She gave me her Gastly card.

  Gastly was flying in a building with brown walls.

  "Hey, imagine if there were more than a hundred and fifty
Poke'mon," said Sera.

  "A hundred and fifty-one," I corrected her. "Don't forget Mew."

  "Yeah, what if there was more than that? I know I'd still catch
'em all."

  I laughed. "A hundred and fifty-one is already mad Poke'mon.
Why would they make more?"

  "But in the Poke'rap, they say, 'At least a hundred and fifty,
or more to see.' Sounds like there's more to me," Greta said.

  "And to be a Poke'mon master is my destiny!" Sera smiled. "I'll
get all the cards even if I have to carry them in my bookbag!"

  Sera's so funny. 'Over a hundred and fifty-one Poke'mon.' What
a Poke'maniac.
      ___________________________________________

  After another homeroom, art was the next class. A brown cabinet
with yellow doors was on one side of the room, and a green
cabinet with blue doors was on the other side. Both of them had a
wooden sink next to them. Posters about paints and drawing were
hanging everywhere. For some reason, the six long tables that
were all different colors were moved so three were on opposite
sides of the room.

  Mrs. Carlin had frizzy, brown hair. Giant glasses covered her
brown eyes. She was a skinny, old lady with wrinkles everywhere.
Her yellow shirt was inside her white pants, and she wore brown
shoes.

  "Okay, class," Mrs. Carlin said, "today, we're going to make
valentines. You can give them to your friends, moms, dads,
brothers, or sisters. I want all boys to sit on this side," she
pointed at the tables on the left side of the room, "and the
girls to sit here," she looked at the other tables. "Plenty of
supplies are here for both groups, so you don't have to borrow
from each other and ruin your surprise."

  The boys and girls went to their own sides. Brown counters were
against some of the walls. crayons, papers, colored pencils, and
stuff like that were on top.

  Knowing how much Sera liked, no, loved Poke'mon, I knew
exackily (exactly) what to draw. Her favorite Poke'mon was
Rapidash. Rapidash ain't easy for me to sketch, but I'll try. I
think Scyther is the coolest, by the way.

  Standing by the supplies, I picked up a yellow crayon, a white
crayon, and an orange crayon. Then I got some red paper and some
scissors with a purple handle. Holding everything, I went to the
green table and sat in the blue chair. Two other boys were
sitting by me. I turned around to look for Sera. She had her back
turned and was picking through a Crayola box.

  I sat back in my chair and looked at the red rectangle. Picking
up my white crayon, I drew an unfinished oval, then put the
crayon down. Then, I dragged the crayon down the other side of
the oval. Well, that's his (Is Rapidash a boy or a girl Pokemon?
Well, only a boy would have fire all over him, so I guess it's a
he) neck and head. I went to the end of the neck and drew a
straight line for his back. Sigh Where's the eraser on this
thing?

  Turning around again, I looked for Sera. She was scribbling
with a green marker. Since she was smiling, she couldn't have
been having as many problems as I was. Digging into my pocket, I
found my pencil. The eraser looked almost brand new. Picking the
shavings off, I flipped the pencil over and rubbed the eraser
over Rapidash's crayon-colored back. *Sigh* It didn't work!

  Holding the paper in both hands I tore it so I could try to
draw on a clean part. Like a dummy, I ripped it wrong, leaving a
big, pointy piece in one hand, and a little piece in the other. I
balled both papers up and tried to throw them in the big, gray
garbage can by the door. I missed. On the way to get more paper,
I picked it up and dropped it in.
      ___________________________________________

  After a bazillion mess-ups, like mixing the tail with the fire
on his back, and making the body too fat, I was done. The white
horse had really straight legs; each pair looked connected. His
circle eye (He was standing sideways) was big and had a dot in
the middle. Orange and yellow triangles were all over him; they
were supposed to be fire, but looked more like one of those
things that cover cartoon characters when they get alectracuted
(electrocuted). The tail looked the same as the rest of the fire.
All I had to do now was cut the paper into a heart shape.

  I put the bottom of the scissors on the top of the paper. I cut
a straight line, making a triangle shape come off. Next, I
pointed the scissors down and cut downwards. I kept cutting until
I made a heart that was pointy and straight, but not round at
all. The two top parts were flat squares. At least I did the
bottom right.

  The top left part was shaped like a triangle. The right part
looked like a skinny rectangle. Sera's valentine ended up being a
lot littler than I wanted it to be; now, it was barely big enough
to cover both of my hands. I didn't want to start all over again,
so I left it like that before I messed up again. Since I didn't
have anyone else to give valentines to, I cleaned up and waited
for the bell to ring.

  When it did, we lined up at the door. I walked up to Sera. She
was giving valentines to two of our friends, and one friend gave
her a white, square paper. I felt sad at first, but held my
heart-shaped card out to her. Turning her attention to me, she
looked at it, and then at me.

  "For me?" she asked. Her eyes grew and she smiled real big.

  My face felt hot. I nodded and said "Yeah."

  "Ooh, thanks, Gabriel!" She took the card. "Wow! You drew
Rapidash! She looks really cool!"

  Rapidash is a she?

  The line began to move into the hallway.

  "I would have made a valentine for you, but I gave you one this
morning."

  "That's okay, now we're even. Can't wait for the dance."

  "Me, neither."

  After that, we went to Spelling. Why are Spelling, Language
Arts, and Handwriting all different classes?
      ___________________________________________

  Dad dropped me off at school later that day. It felt weird to
be in school in the almost nighttime, but at least we weren't
doing work.

  I put my coat on top of the pile that was by the door. I was
wearing a shiny, red shirt with long sleeves. Black pants barely
covered the ankles of the white thermals that I wore underneath
them. My black sneakers from earlier were still on.

  The party, which was inside the gym, was huge. Lights shined
off the wooden floor, where black basketball lines were painted.
Two white basketball hoops were hanging in the air sideways.

  The silver-legged table that sat beside the open gym doors was
topped by a large, clear bowl of juice, stacked plastic cups, and
a bunch of snacks like chips and donuts. Rows of black, soft
chairs were against the walls. A large, red banner reading "Happy
Valentine's Day" in pink letters that had white outlines hung
above the stage. On top of the stage, four black speakers were
playing YMCA. A white table that had CDs on top was in between
the two groups of speakers.

  Mad kids from second to fourth grade Awere dancing; mostly, the
YMCA dance. Others were talking and eating. Of course, grownup
teachers just had to be there, too. Most were dancing, but some
were just standing around like they were waiting to give somebody
detention (They can't do that, can they?).

  I looked a little bit to my left and shook my head to look
again. In front of the wall of pushed bleachers, Sera was raising
her hands like she was making the letters Y, M, C, and A. Her
ponytail swished from side to side as she did C and A. I could
feel my face turn red as my breath left me.

  Sera's hair was the same as earlier, now swishing from side to
side on the short, ruffled sleeves of her light blue dress. The
little collar barely showed the top of her chest. A lighter blue
skirt reached down to her shins. White stockings went down to her
light blue shoes with ribbon bows. She looked like Cinderella.

  Fighting to hide the smile that fought me back, I walked past a
lot of students, teachers, and parents. Sera saw me when she was
doing a 'C', and smiled. She only gave my lips more energy and
made me grin back. Her hands went to her sides and she stopped
dancing.

  "Hey, Gabriel," she said over the loud music.

  "Hi." We gave each other fives. "Did I miss anything?"

  "No."

  I danced beside her until the song was over. Some song I never
heard before replaced it. It went like "Blue da ba dee", or
something, over and over again. Sera went to the snack table and
I followed her. Reaching into a white bowl, she pulled out a
handful of pretzels and put them in a napkin. I got Doritos from
another white bowl. Then we sat in chairs that were against the
walls.

  We sat there talking like we would on any other day. We shared
our snacks. Later, the song went off and the
'Pokemon-mon-mon-mon' song was on. Kids were dancing and jumping
around wildly.

  Oh, yeah! Pokemon-mon-mon-mon

  Pokemon-mon-mon-mon

  "I really like this song," Sera told me while moving her head
up and down to the fast music.

  "I bet you do," I smirked. "You really like singing anything
with Pokemon in it."

  She copied me in a funny voice while shaking her head from side
to side. We both bust out laughing. "Wanna dance?" She stood up
like she was gonna dance even if I said no.

  "Yeah."

  By now, mad kids were dancing. Me and Sera found a spot and
danced. I didn't know all of the words to the song, but I sang
what I could. Sera jumped around in circles with her hands up. I
was moving my raised arms from side to side.

  Another fast song I never heard began. They kept saying "We
like to party", so I guess that`s what its called. Sera moved her
arms up and down like she was running. She moved her head
crazily, making her hair fly all over the place. It was kinda
funny, and I think she did it just to be funny.

  When that song went off, "Bye Bye Bye" came on. Our Language
Arts teacher came out of nowhere and said:

  "Come on, Mrs. Silvermane, let's show these kids how to do it."
Mr. K (He has a really long and weird name, so we just call him
"Mr. K") was wearing a dark green shirt that was tucked into
brown pants, and black shoes. He had dark brown hair that was cut
into a square, and he had little dots where his beard would be. A
nose with real big nostrils was on his rectangle-shaped face.
He's the funniest teacher I ever had.

  Mrs. Silvermane was a fat lady with gray hair that was wrapped
into a bun. She was really tall and had brown eyes. She was
wearing a dark red shirt with long sleeves. Her pants and shoes
were black. Arm in arm, she and Mr. K went to dance.

  "It ain't no lie, goodbye, goodbye, goodbyyyy-yyye!" Mr. K
sang.

  The kids, including me and Sera, laughed at him. Some told him
to sing it right.

  We danced through two more songs and gave up. By now, Get Ready
was playing. My dad listens to a lot of really old songs, so I
know The Temptations sing this song.

  "Having fun?" Sera asked me as we walked toward the snack
table.

  "Yeah." I picked up a clear cup and gave it to her. Then I
picked out my own.

  "Me, too."

  I poured both of us some fruit punch and we went to stand
against a wall, since all of the chairs were taken.

  "All Star" came to an end. Some dancers left the floor to stand
or sit against the walls or in the chairs. The DJ pulled the CD
out and replaced it with another. After a moment of silence,
"I'll Never Break Your Heart" came on. A lot of kids left to sit
down. There were only nine dancing now, plus a bunch of parents
and teachers.

  I looked at Sera. She was watching everybody else dance. I
wanted to get up and ask her to dance with me. But she's kinda
wild, so I don't think she'd like to dance to a slow song like
this. Slowly, her head turned to me.

  I turned mine and watched two grownups dance together. They
were holding hands while the other hands were on each other's
backs. I wish that could be me and Sera someday. Before I knew
it, the song was over.
      ___________________________________________

  "I had a really good time at this party," Sera told me. She
then made a face that made me laugh. "Eww, I never thought I'd
say that in school." Her unzipped jacket was on. It looked weird
with her skirt under it.

  A teacher had told us when Sera's parents had called. Since I
had no other reason to be here, I called mine. We were sitting in
the main office with Mrs. Carlin, who was sitting behind the
counter, where we couldn't see her anymore. She was wearing an
orange sweater with light blue jeans and white shoes.

  The carpet was dark blue. A line of seven gray chairs was
against the wall that faced the secretary stuff and principal
door. Me and Sera sat together by the office doorway. A brown
counter was in front of the chairs. Behind us were big, square
windows that let us see the brown exit doors in the hallway.

  "I had a good time, too," I said. She kept smiling at me. "Um,
I like your dress... it... looks nice."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah."

  "Thanks. I wore it for Halloween last year. It was fun dancing
with you."

  "Thank you."

  We sat quiet until her parents walked in. Sera's father had
really short, black hair. He was wearing a red coat with dark
gray jeans and brown shoes. Her mother had a white winter hat
with black hair coming out of the sides and on her shoulders. She
was wearing a brown coat with black pants and shoes. We said "Hi"
to each other.

  "Bye," I said with a wave.

  "Bye," Sera said. Her parents turned and headed for the exit.
She began to walk out of the office, but I held her hand to keep
her from leaving. Then she turned her head and looked at our
hands. I stood up and she looked at me. "What?"

  I swallowed spit and opened my mouth. Fast, I got closer to her
and put my lips together. My kiss barely landed on her left cheek
before I flinched. Sera looked through a window, then at me. She
had this sort of surprised look on her face. I didn't know
whether she was mad or not.

  My heart was beating mad fast, and my head was hurting, and it
suddenly became hard to breath. I can't believe I just did that!
She looked into the hallway again and left the office. Before she
went through the open exit doors, she looked at me again while
walking.

  I slumped back into my seat and thought about what happened. To
me, the kiss felt good, but how did she feel about it? I gotta
talk to her about it. I really hope she doesn't hate me for what
I did.