What could I say? I was a nice brother. And, for some reason, Chris never seemed to have a problem with it. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he had a crush on Jenna, but they fought more than we did, so I knew there was no way he liked her. He just put up with her like I did. Now, I was finding out, we wouldn’t have to since she’d have girls to play with.

“This is boring. Let’s go find some shells,” Chris said, and Jenna concurred.

I still needed to finish the moat around the castle, so I told them to go ahead without me. I lost myself in the details of my creation, having no idea how much time had ticked by or how long Chris and Jenna had left me there alone.

I heard her soft voice before I even realized she was there.

“Hi.”

Standing on the top step of the gazebo was a girl who looked to be my age. I’d never seen her before, and part of me secretly hoped right then and there that she was one of the new girls Jenna had told me about. I didn’t know why, but suddenly, I didn’t want her to be Jenna’s new best friend, or else I’d be spending a whole lot more time playing with those stupid dolls and drinking fake tea.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her, not even as a pink blush formed on her cheeks. Especially not then. She had pretty, blonde hair that was in a ponytail. Even though it was up, I could tell it was long by the way it hung in a straight line down her back. It swung around when she moved her head, and I wondered what it would look like down. I didn’t quite understand that thought, but I’d had it nonetheless.

Sparkling, blue eyes shone down on me. In the bright sunlight, her brown freckles highlighted her skin. On the side of her cheek was a pattern that looked just like my favorite constellation—the Little Dipper. Any time we camped in the backyard and I stared up at the sky, I wished I could touch the stars. Now that I was seeing them right there on her cheek, I wanted to connect those dots with my fingers. But, even as pretty as I thought she was, what I noticed most was the vibrant orange shirt she was wearing with my favorite character on it.

I couldn’t help the grin that formed on my face as I held my hand up. “I’m in the zone!” I told her with my best Michelangelo impression.

Her nose wrinkled before recognition crossed her face. Then she laughed and slipped her shoes off before coming down the steps and plopping in the sand beside me.

“Hi. I’m Sierra,” she said, sticking her hand out so we could shake.

I’d never heard that name before, so I let it run over in my mind.

Sierra.

It was beautiful—just like her.

“Jeremy,” I told her, lowering my voice an octave, trying to sound older than my eight years. It didn’t work, and my stomach did a funny flip-flop move when she giggled.

“Oh, really? I thought you were Michelangelo.”

An instant swell of relief washed over me. She hadn’t been laughing at me and my awful voice-changing abilities. And just like that, we fell into easy conversation about our favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What was it that Michelangelo had said about that pretty girl in the last movie?

“Oh man, she was hot.”

Suddenly, I realized hot meant pretty, and I could honestly say that Sierra was hot.

Not that I’d tell her that.

We chatted like we were old friends, and I was excited to learn that she was my new neighbor. Surprisingly, I wasn’t disappointed in the least that she wasn’t a boy. The fact that she seemed to like all the things I did was more than enough for me to want to be instant friends with her. Plus, she was much better to look at than Chris.

Eventually, her little sister, Lexi, showed up, and Chris and Jenna came back. I didn’t quite know why, but I was disappointed that we were no longer alone. I’d liked talking to Sierra on my own, and I wanted her all to myself. For some reason, I didn’t want to share. Since I had a twin, I was pretty good at the whole sharing-is-caring thing, and I never minded when Jenna tagged along with Chris and me. This time, sharing was the last thing I wanted to do. But, sadly, I had no choice as introductions were made.

All too soon, Sierra said she and Lexi had to go home. Even though I could’ve played longer, I decided to call it a day and walk them home. Chris gave me a funny look, but I just shrugged and told him the sun had made me tired. He and Jenna snickered. They didn’t believe me, but I didn’t care.

When we got to the end of their driveway, Lexi waved and ran inside. Sierra lingered with me, smiling and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The toe of her tennis shoe scuffed along the cement as we both stood there staring at each other, not saying a word.

Finally, she cleared her throat and broke the silence. “I didn’t want to move here,” she said.

I hated that she sounded sad. I hated it even more that she was admitting she hadn’t wanted to be here. I wanted to change that. I wanted to make her want to stay, to be happy she’d moved right next door.

“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what other words to give her.

She shook her head at me, her smile widening. “Don’t be. Because of you, I’m not scared anymore.”

My eyes widened, and I had to clear my throat to mask my surprise. “You’re not? Why were you scared to begin with?”

She shrugged. “I was afraid I wouldn’t make any friends, but then I met you.” She paused for a moment before her eyes looked panicked. “I mean, if you want to be friends, that is. I know I’m a girl and everything, but I don’t even like Barbies. I’m what Mom calls a tomboy.” The declaration was proud, and I liked it, even if she was too pretty to be called anything with boy in the name.

I laughed and placed my hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Sierra. Even if you did like Barbies, we could still be friends. Since you don’t, that’s just a bonus.” Then I leaned in close and lowered my voice to a whisper. “And you know what that means?”

She shook her head. “What?”

“It means that not only can we be friends, but we can be best friends,” I told her, hoping Chris didn’t mind if I had another one.

Her smile returned. “Really?”

I nodded. For some reason, my palms got sweaty while I waited for her to answer. My heart was beating like I’d just run a mile or done some of the football drills Dad had been teaching me earlier that summer to get ready for the PeeWee league.

After what felt like an eternity, Sierra put me out of my waiting misery. “I’d like that, Jeremy.”

Without thinking, I spat on my palm and held it out to her. When I realized she probably thought it was gross, I cringed, but I went with it. “Spit-shake on it? To make it official?”

To my surprise, she spit into her own palm and held it out to me. Our hands connected and we shook three times. Then we held hands as our eyes met.

“Best friends?” she asked.

“Best friends,” I confirmed.

The moment broke when her mom called her inside. She gave me one last wave before she disappeared into her house, and even though I didn’t want to, I headed home with that funny feeling I couldn’t understand in my tummy.

“Where’s the fire?” Mom called as I scurried into the kitchen faster than usual.

My chest heaved as butterflies swirled in my stomach. I wrinkled my nose at the strange sensation. Boys didn’t get butterflies, did they? I shook my head—no, of course they didn’t. I must’ve been coming down with the flu or something. I didn’t feel right. What was happening to me?

“Mom!” I exclaimed, excitement taking over as I tried calming the fluttering pests that were attacking my insides.

She turned from the sink and dried her hands, giving me a warm smile.

“Guess what?”

She set the towel down and animatedly tapped her chin as she tried to think of a guess. I impatiently rocked back and forth on my heels. Women, I thought, echoing my dad’s jovial tease whenever my mom or sister did something he called “exasperating.”