Dedicated to MoipyC for her lovely comments and message about this book. Thank you so much again, and hope you like this chapter!

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WILL LOOKED AT ME as we all sat down at the table, the fog now dissipating from his face. "Cece? Cece Johnson?"

I smiled. "I would say long time no see but that doesn't seem to cover it."

He laughed but it was short-lived as the shock began to setlle across his face once again. "I can't believe it... You've changed so much, I almost didn't recognise you."

"Can't say the same. I wouldn't forget the boy with the diaper rash so easily."

He winced. "Uh, please don't open that can of worms. The doctor said it was a common problem among kindergartners."

I grinned. "I'm pretty sure he meant children from nurseries."

We both broke into smiles and Barbara cleared her throat loudly beside us. "Um, you guys care to fill us in?"

I felt my cheeks flush. "Er, of course. Sorry. Will was actually my friend in kindergarten."

"Yeah, we picked up on that," Barbara smiled. "But how did you not realize you knew Will before? Didn't his name ring a bell at all?"

I shrugged. "Not really. A lot of time has passed since then and it's been years since I last saw someone from kindergarten. I mean, I did know he had a sister, but I forgot her name was Megan." I looked at Megan sheepishly but she was smiling kindly.

"We did go to separate schools most of our lives," Megan said. "Different kindergarten, different middle school, different highschool..." She shrugged. "I guess our parents just thought each one of us fitted better into a certain school - and that school never happened to be the same one."

"And wasn't that hard for you?" Barbara inquired.

"Are you kidding? More time away from Megan was like winning gold - Ow!" The last part was the sound of Will suffering from the nudge his sister had given on his arm. "What did I do?"

"He always says that to cover up the misery he feels whenever he's away from me," Megan explained with a smile. "Poor Will here always tried to hide his true feelings from me." She shot Will an amused look as he rubbed the spot Megan had touched. "He never learns."

I smiled. This brother-sister banter between Megan and Will seemed oddly familiar in a way. And then I realized why. It reminded me of the way little Will and I used to be during kindergarten.

We'd always had some kind of an on and off friendship - as we all know how harshly little kids treat toy stealing and teasing.

But at the same time, Will was the closest I'd had to a best friend and often he had seemed like the annoying brother I'd never had. I enjoyed teasing him, making jokes about him that were never too hurtful or cruel, just the kind of jokes children made. He also did the same with me.

And we didn't get mad. Too often.

The occasional toy stealing was where we drew the line. Our friendship would end for a couple of hours and then, before the day was over and we would bolt to the loving arms of our parents waiting outside the kindergarten, our friendship would be renewed.

Sometimes I wished grown-up friendships were like the childhood ones. Easy to fix, with fights that were never too serious and every reconciliation a new happy ending.

But looking at Megan and Will, I could already start seeing a glimpse of the little kids the two of us used to be. Only that Will was now eleven years older, and also one diaper rash away from being that little kid I once cared so much for.

"So how's school for you, Cece?" Will asked me. "Are you still fighting for good grades?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I meant, are you chasing A's the way you used to chase those merit points the teacher gave us back in kindergarten?"

I remembered the merit points. The memories were so vivid in my mind it was like they happened merely a week before. Whenever our teacher had to leave the classroom, she would name someone to hold the reigns and keep the control for her. Quiet down everyone who was talking too loud or yelling. Keep the order. And much to my surprise, that was almost always me.

It was something about being the person the teacher trusted that filled me with joy. I'd always loved being appreciated for my behaviour and therefore being treated with respect. And the child that I used to be loved silencing the black sheep and getting a red dot pinned on her shirt for good behaviour whenever the teacher got back and found everything under control - just the way she'd left it.

It was the way I used to do justice as a kid - at least that was what I liked to think I was doing. And despite my strict behaviour when the teacher wasn't around, I still managed to get along with most of the kids from my class.

Thinking back on it, I was a little bit over the top, but kindergarten still used to be my second home. And all the children there were like my relatives. Will was my only brother though. The others were more like cousins to me, however still quite good friends.

And I used to love that.

"I'm not chasing grades, Will," I said and a smile was already forming on my lips. "How about you though? Are you still wearing diapers?"

Barbara grinned as Meghan burst out laughing. Will's cheeks flushed red. "No, Cece. As a matter of fact I'm not. Are you still sleeping with Mr. Rabbit?"

I fought the urge to gasp. The mention of Mr. Rabbit's name made my ears grow hot. I couldn't believe Will remembered my favorite stuffed animal from when I was a kid. It was this little brown rabbit dressed in a black tuxedo with a very elegant yet ridiculous red bow on his neck which I used to carry everywhere with me. To say I'd loved that rabbit was an understatement.

And apparently Mr. Rabbit wasn't that easy to forget either.

"Okay, you got me. I was sleeping with a stuffed rabbit back in kindergarten."

"I believe you meant middle school too."

"Are you guys done creating this sexual tension now?" Barbara deadpanned, causing Megan to burst out laughing. Again. My pulse quickened and I dropped my gaze to my feet.

"Uh... Yeah. Sorry," Will said and I swear his face turned fifty shades of red. I didn't blame him though. Mine was at least another fifty shades redder. "We were just teasing each other."

I nodded in agreement, biting my lip as to stop the smile from taking over my face. But it was too hard. With the nervous smile forming on my lips and my face red, I knew I could almost pass as a clown at their first circus show.

Ugh, why did Barbara have to make things awkward?

"Hey, um, aren't we supposed to order something?" Megan asked, and I mentally thanked her for changing the subject. "We've literally been sitting here for ten minutes with our stomachs growling."

"God, you're right," Barbara smiled and she and Megan both stood up from their seats and looked at us expectantly. "Well?"

"I'll have their special pizza," Will told Megan. "Domino's classic. With olives and bacon. Can you order for me? I'll stay here with our stuff." He was referring to the jackets draped over mine and Barbara's chairs, and my bag resting against the foot of our table.

Megan hummed back in respone as I stood up, trailing behind Megan and Barbara towards the counter to order our pizzas.

Fifteen minutes later we were all eating and chatting in between chews. I finished my pepperoni pizza after about ten minutes, and waited for the others to finish theirs.

Just as everyone finished eating, Megan and Barbara propelled into a new conversation regarding their junior prom. Will and I listened on the sidelines to their rants about that ear-bleeding playlist - which had apparently disrupted their fun for a full half an hour, before the DJ started taking song requests.

I had no argument to throw and neither did Will, so we both remained silent while I tried my best to ignore the strange feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.

I wasn't sure how the girls had reached that topic, but I had an awful feeling that Barbara was barely a sentence away from spilling something else prom-related. Like the reason I had come here in the first place.

Barbara had the gift of making things awkward just by uttering one word, and I knew I didn't want my old kindergarten friend to find out that Barbara (and possibly even Megan) was secretly plotting to set us up for prom.

For one, Will had been just about the last person I expected to see this evening. I'd been absolutely positive I didn't know the Will Barbara had so casually told me about at school.

And as it turns out, I'd been so incredibly wrong.

I didn't want to think about asking Will to prom though. In fact, I was trying quite hard to keep those thoughts at bay, trying to ignore that little voice inside me telling me that this couldn't be such a bad idea after all. That it would be easier that way.

Ever since Megan and Barbara had jumped head-first into the prom topic, everything inside me had tipped to an oddly dangerous angle - reminding me of the things Barbara and I had dicussed. Of Barbara's plan.

And my hands grew sweaty all over again.

Fortunately, the conversation ended without Barbara spewing out anything random and awkward, and the four of us shuffled outside after paying for our meal, back into the warm air of the evening.

We stopped in front of Domino's, realizing that Barbara and I were actually heading in the opposite direction from Megan and Will. The girls hugged each other goodbye and tried to find another day this week when they could meet, which created a whole separate sphere of awkwardness for me and Will.

"Do you have Facebook?" Will asked suddenly, and I actually faught the urge to look behind me to see if he were speaking to someone else. Of course he wasn't.

I bit my lip, nodding sheepishly as he fished the phone from his pocket. "Uh, yeah. It's Cece Johnson."

"Woah, I'm curious how you chose that name," he smiled as he took his phone from his pocket and waited for the Facebook app to open. I peered at the screen and pointed to the first profile that popped up. "Huh," he frowned after a few seconds, "looks like we're already friends."

"Great," I said sarcastically, "we're both wearing our heads as hat racks."

He laughed. "I guess we do."

I heard Megan and Barbara say goodbye, a definite goodbye this time, and I awkwardly sidled up to Barbara. I waved at the two of them as they slowly started walking in the opposite direction, with Will passing me one more quick smile before turning around.

We began our own walk home and after barely few moments, Barbara elbowed me in the arm. "You go, girl! I knew you had it in you."

"What do you mean?"

"Will was totally blushing," she said in a sing-song voice. "When we were saying goodbye. His cheeks were literally burning. Didn't you notice?"

"No," I said quickly, and lowered my head to my feet.

Because it was a lie, and even though I thought I'd imagined it, I'd seen that too.

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This is officially the longest chapter I've written so far. What did you think about Will? Do you ship him and Cece? If you do, comment down their ship names - I'm so curious!

Next chapter up Wednesday.

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