I'd been in the same class as Kendra for two years, ever since I transferred schools because our family and I moved to a different state, but I didn't immediately like her. It wasn't a case of love at first sight like it had been with the others. My love for Kendra grew a little every day until it reached impossible heights.

The first time I realised I was interested in her was when I was twelve years old and I caught myself staring at her during history. Unfortunately, the teacher, Mrs Campbell, noticed my absence of thoughts too.

"Eli, pay attention!" she said in her sharp voice. My head turned immediately to see the middle-aged woman about to make an embarrassing comment. "You can stare at Kendra in your free time."

I blushed and in doing so I noticed Kendra did the same, although her mouth curled up into a grin.

"Of course, ma'am," I mumbled.

It wasn't that Kendra wasn't extraordinarily pretty or that she wasn't nice--though she was, both. I just had never noticed it before then.

She was really into sports, which was why her dark, wavy hair was always up in a ponytail and, unlike the other girls in my grade, she didn't wear any make-up. Unapologetically herself, she knew what she wanted and how to get it.

She was beautiful, inside and out, and I'd beaten myself blue for not seeing it before.

After Mrs Campbell told me to pay attention and my face had the shade of a tomato, I saw Kendra's face doing the same, but only because she turned around to see me and then winked.

She winked.

⚽️

Now that I had discovered I liked her, I began seeing everything from a different perspective. Did this wink mean she liked me too? Or did she just see it as a joke and played along?

It got complicated pretty quickly. What could I think of this?

All these thoughts racing through my mind still made it impossible for me to pay attention to the class. Fortunately, Mrs Campbell didn't catch me again.

After class had ended, Jack, my friend, came up to me. He was grinning when he said, "Dude... Kendra, seriously?"

I pretended like those events from the history class had never happened. "What about her?"

His eyes only grew wider. "You're so into her!"

My cheeks reddened; there was no point in denying it now. "What if I am?"

"You have to ask her," Jack said, poking me with his elbow.

"I can't!" I couldn't, right? I'd only just found out about my feelings for her.

"You can and you have to. She likes you too, I'm sure of it!"

I shook my head. "Jack, I don't think I'm ready yet." My eyes focused on the ground now and I kicked the grass while we walked on.

"Just don't wait too long." 

Which was pretty good advice coming from a twelve-year-old who spent most of his time playing FIFA.

⚽️

During P.E. we had to work together in teams of four. The team captains each had to choose the members of their team--which I hated. I wasn't the most boyish-boy and I didn't practice sports as often as the other boys in my class did, simply because it didn't interest me. This resulted in me being bad at sports and always being one of the last three to be picked.

So, I was surprised to hear my name as the fifth.

"Eli."

I hadn't been paying attention--I didn't expect to be chosen so early on--but hearing my name surprised me, so I looked up. I didn't know who had called my name.

"Eli, what are you waiting for?" Mr Robinson, our teacher, said. "Join Kendra."

Kendra.

Jack winked in an exaggerated way as if he meant to say something by it. I ignored it as I walked up to Kendra, still surprised. What should I do? What should I say?

My heart began beating faster. "Hi." I waved at her while reminding myself again how not cool it was to wave.

She smiled. "Hi."

Then, I just stood next to her as I tried to comprehend that she'd picked me first. Me, Eli, the most incapable sports guy in this school.

Maybe she did like me.

Only the thought of it made my stomach turn. What if she did?

⚽️

Our special moment ended quickly when Kendra had to pick another member of our team. Bryce and Alexis joined us and we were assigned to start with playing hockey against another team of three girls and Jack.

"What's the game plan?" Bryce asked.

Kendra took the lead. "Eli and I will move forward and the two of you are on the defence," she said. "This shouldn't be too hard, because those three aren't that good in hockey and are scared of the ball. Just make sure the ball doesn't reach Jack, he's the real danger here."

We split up and got in position for the game. Mr Robinson explained the rules to us: as soon as a goal had been made, the game was over.

"Thank you, by the way," I whispered to Kendra.

"For what?" she asked.

I blushed, and I hated myself for blushing. There was no reason to. "Well... Picking me first and stuff."

"Oh, that? It's no big deal."

"Thanks, anyway." It was a little awkward, but I didn't know what else to tell her.

There was a whistle heard, and Kendra began running towards the ball before I'd even realized the game had started. I tried to do my part in the game, but I knew--and soon it became clear for the others--hockey wasn't a talent of mine.

Fortunately, as Kendra had said, those girls weren't good either and it made me seem less bad.

Kendra was by far the best of everyone in the field. She handled the stick like a true pro and had full control over the ball when she passed it to a teammate. Her focus was on the game and she wasn't going to walk away without having won it.

"Bryce!" she yelled, and a second later the ball rolled from Kendra to Bryce before Jack could take it.

I admired her willpower and determination; she did whatever she wanted and wasn't about to let someone else tell her what to do.

This P.E. class made me like her even more than I already did.

I was still dreaming when she suddenly passed the ball over to me after she'd yelled "Eli!" to get me out of my daydream. I saw the white object coming my way, and I kind of freaked out. What should I do--what do you do with a hockey ball? Pass it back? Run with it? I wasn't qualified enough to do either of those things.

"Come on, Eli!" I heard Bryce say behind me. "To the goal!"

Right, the goal. That was the whole purpose of the game: score and win.

The goal was only a few steps away, but would I make it? Jack already came running to me to try to take the ball from me, and I wasn't confident enough to take a shot.

Then, another thought came to mind: why did I care? Better try than be a coward, right?

So, I took a shot.

And I hit the ball terribly.

At a slow pace, the ball rolled towards the goal. It was so slow, even those girls weren't even afraid of it any more. One of them stood in front of the goal and got ready to stop it.

Jack, however, was still at full speed coming towards me, unable to slow down in time and he got between the ball and the goal, changing its course and causing it to roll past the keeper.

It was a goal.

"Eliii!" Bryce yelled, and Kendra came running to me. I still didn't realize what just happened.

"You did it!" Kendra said, slapping me in a friendly way against the shoulder.

"Good job," Alexis said.

We won, because of me? I'd never deemed it possible.

"You're the best," Kendra said.

I felt like I was flying.

⚽️

After school, I was waiting for Jack so we could walk home together when I saw Kendra. I felt a weird feeling in my stomach, a feeling that reminded me of being ill but in a pleasant way, if that was possible. Was it normal to have that feeling when you see a girl?

She saw me too and changed the direction she was walking in. "Hi," she said, smiling.

The feeling in my stomach only got worse.

"Are you going home too?" I asked. No blushing, this time.

She nodded. "Yeah, just waiting on my mom to pick me up to go to the dentist."

"Yikes, the dentist." I hated visiting the dentist.

She rolled her eyes but laughed. "I know."

We were quiet for a second while I looked around for Jack. Where was that guy? He said he only needed to go to the toilet, but it was taking him too long. I'd already waited five minutes before Kendra came.

I didn't get the chance to worry any longer as suddenly, she took a step forward.

Simultaneously, I took a step back. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Can you stand still for a moment?" No explanation, just a simple question, and I obeyed.

Before I even knew what was happening, her face was close to mine, and her lips were on my lips.

We were kissing.

She kissed me.

Was it a dream? Was it real? How weird would it be if I pinched myself in the arm right now?

And then it ended.

"I... I--"

"I just wanted to know what it feels like," she said, brushing it off as if it were nothing.

I, however, couldn't answer her.

"My mom's here," she said then. The smile reappeared and her eyes were shimmering with joy. "Bye, Eli!"

And just like that, she stole my first kiss along with my heart.

⚽️

That ending... <3