It has been three weeks since the night that Issac and I kissed under the inky black sky filled with millions of luminous stars. It has been three weeks since I looked into his bright blue eyes and thought I was in love.

During these three weeks, Barbra and I became close friends. We laughed and joked with each other. We texted each other everyday, and we told each other everything that was on our mind. However, I hadn't told her I thought I loved Issac yet. I mean, I wasn't really sure I was in love.

I sat down at the lunch table next to Issac. He wrapped his fingers around mine, and he placed a soft kiss on my hand. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my heart thumped so hard in my chest I felt like it was going to explode. Electricity seemed to travel throughout my body, igniting in my stomach and crawling its way up into my heart. Was this strange, wonderful feeling love?

"Hello, beautiful," Issac said, his fascinating blue eyes staring into mine. A small grin escaped from his lips.

Warmth spread throughout my bones, and I grinned back at him. He made me feel like I was the most gorgeous girl in the world. "Hey."

"Aww, you guys are so cute together!," Barbra squealed from the other side of the table.

I rolled my eyes and faced towards her. "Shut up."

"Why can't I say you're a cute couple? What's wrong with that?," Barbra asked as she crossed her arms.

"It's annoying. You've been saying it for the past three weeks," I said with annoyance.

"How can I not say it, though? It's like a love story is happening before my very eyes," she sighed contently as a smile spread across her face.

"I don't mind it," Issac said, leaning on the table. "I agree with you; we are a extremely cute couple."

He looked over me, smirking. A dimple formed in his cheek. I remembered when I first saw that dimple in the mall. It was strange how, back then, our paths kept colliding; it was like some unknown force was pulling us together. He was only a stranger to me back then, but right now he was so much more. Right now he meant the world to me; he made my heart beat speed up inside of my chest and he ignited my bones with warmth.

Barbra leaned into the table "Jessica, I was thinking about you sleeping over at my house tonight. You know, since it's a Friday and all."

"Sure!," I said with a smile on my face. "I'll just have to let my mom know."

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My mom pulled up the car in front of Barbra's house. I started to open the door, and I was about to get out of the car and say goodbye when my mom interrupted me.

"Wait!," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"What?," I asked, my eyebrows raised in worry. I wondered if she was going to have another nervous breakdown. She had been having nervous breakdowns ever since dad left.

"I...I just feel like we don't hang out much anymore. We barely see each other," she said, her eyes filled with sadness. "Maybe we should have a mother-daughter night sometime. We could watch old movies and eat popcorn."

"Yeah, we should do that sometime," I agreed while swallowing with guilt. I felt bad I wasn't hanging out with her more; she had been miserable ever since Dad disappeared.

I opened the car door and got out. "Bye, Mom. Love you!"

"Love you too, honey," she said with a sly smile on her face. Ever since Dad left, she never smiled a full, wide smile. I missed her radiant smile. I missed the way her eyes lighted up and her smile made crinkles in her cheek, making the corners of her mouth look like crinkled paper. I missed her being truly happy.

I closed the car door, and walked up the stairs up to the porch. I rang the doorbell, and no one answered. I rang it again, and a woman who looked like she was in her fifties came to the door. She had chocolate brown hair and vibrant green eyes. I suspected it was Barbra's mom.

"Hey, you must be Jessica! It's lovely to meet you!," she said excitedly. She ran up to me and hugged me tightly. Then, she gave me a kiss on each cheek. It made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you too," I said politely. "Where's Barbra?"

"She in her bedroom. I'll tell her you're here," she said.

I figured she was going to go to Barbra's room and tell her, but instead she turned around and yelled, "BARBRA, YOUR FRIEND'S HERE!"

My eyes widened in surprise at her loud yelling.

"It's a big house; I have to yell sometimes," Barbra's mom said.

"It's okay," I said politely while forcing a smile.

Barbra appeared at the door. "Hey Jessica! I'm glad you're here. Wanna have a movie marathon?"

"Sure!"

So, we watched all types of movies. We watched movies that made us laugh until we couldn't breathe; we watched movies that made our heart break into a thousand fragments and made tears stream down our cheeks. We watched all sorts of movies.

We stopped watching movies at around 12:00. Barbra wanted to go to her room and talk for a while. She said she had something she needed to tell me.

We walked up a set of wooden stairs, down a hallway, and into a room that was too the left. Barbra had dark purple blankets and a fluffy pink pillow on her bed. The room's walls were strawberry pink, and there was a purple dresser in the corner of her room.

Barbra walked into the room and sat crossed legged on the bed, and I followed her. As soon as I sat on the bed, I didn't want to get off. It felt so cozy and warm.

"What is it you need to tell me?," I asked her, lying down on the bed resting my head on the fluffy white pillow.

She began to look nervous. She glanced at the open door, jumped out of bed, and closed it. "I can't let my mom hear this or she'll kick me out of the house."

My eyes widened with worry, and I sat up. "What is it? What're you going to tell me?"

She came to the bed, and sat on it once more. This time she sat with her knees tucked under her chin and her hands wrapped around her legs.

"I'm gay," she said, and then she sighed of relief. "Finally! Finally, I can let it off my chest. I haven't told a single soul besides you."

"I have no problem with that," I said, smiling. I felt special that she was coming out to me.

She smiled too; she smiled a humungous smile that made me want to keep that smile on her face. However, that smile faded away. A gloomy expression took over her face.

"But if my mom finds out....she'll kick me out for sure," she said, grabbing tighter onto her legs. "She's a very religious person, and she thinks being gay is a sin."

I looked down, and sadness took over me. Why couldn't people just accept each other? Why couldn't people see that everyone is human, wether a person is gay or straight? It was extremely unfair.

All of a sudden, Barbrabursted into tears. I wrapped my arms around her, giving her a warm embrace.

"I have a girlfriend, and I think I'm in love with her," she sobbed. "And I can't love her because I know one day she would ask to go to my house and meet my mom. Mom would freak out on me if I brought a girl home and told her she was my girlfriend. I don't want to be in love in her; our love will never work out."

"You could tell your mom she's just your friend," I suggested to her.

She looked at me with anger in her eyes.

"Just a friend??!," she repeated angrily, with tears running down her cheeks. "Do you know how long I kept my sexuality a secret from my mom? And now you want me to keep yet ANOTHER secret from her?"

"I guess that is a bad idea," I said quietly, looking at the ground. "I have something to tell you too."

She looked up at me with her tear-filled eyes. "What could you possibly want to tell me?"

"I...I think I'm in love with Issac," I said, a sly smile taking over my face. I couldn't fully smile; Barbra still had tears in her eyes.

A wide, radiant grin spread across her face, and she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "Really?"

"I mean, I think I am," I said as a smile took over my face as well. When she smiled, I couldn't help but smile back at her. "What's your girlfriend's name?"

"Julissa," she said, as her eyes sparkled with glee. She became happy just saying her name.

"How does she make you feel?," I asked. Then, I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand. "Jeez, I'm talking to you like a therapist. I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. Julissa....it's hard to describe how she makes me feel. She makes me feel like every star that's in the sky at night shines for me, that the sun is brining warmth to the earth just for me. Whenever I think about her or just say her name, I get all happy inside. She makes me happy. Every second of every day I want to be with her. I want to be holding hands with her. I want to taste her sweet, pink lips. I can't control my feelings for her; I want them to die down, but they only grow."

My smile grew bigger.

Everything that Barbrasaid about Julissa was exactly the same as how Jessica felt about Issac. Expect that I didn't want my feelings for him to go away; I wanted them to grow. I wanted my feelings for Issac to grow like a beautiful flower grows in the spring. I want to love Issac, and I want him to love me too. I want him to wrap his arms around me and hold me tightly in his warm embrace. I want him to leave a trail of kisses down my neck and whisper in my ear that he loves me.

"That's exactly the same way I feel about Issac," I whispered, as if it were the most precious secret in the world. The corners of my mouth were still raised upwards in a ginormous grin.

"Then tell him!," Barbra squealed excitedly, her tears long gone from her eyes.

"Tell him what?," I asked, stupidly.

Barbra rolled her eyes. "Tell him that you love him, you idiot!"

I laughed at her response, and Barbra laughed too.

"When should I tell him, though? I mean, it has to be at a perfect time, right?," I asked, my eyebrows scrunching together in worry. I was beginning to feel nervous.

One question kept replaying in my mind over and over again like a overplayed song on the radio:

What if he doesn't love me too?

"Tell him whenever you're ready to tell him," she said, giving me a small smile. "You're worrying about if he loved you too, aren't you?"

My eyes went wide in surprise. "How'd you know that?"

"It was easy to tell. Your face got as white as a ghost, and your eyebrows raised up. Plus, I worry about the same thing with Julissa," she said.

I titled my head. "Wow. Am I always so easy to read?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she said. "I can always tell how you feel just by looking at your face; your face is always full of expression."

I lied back down, placing my head on top of the fluffy purple pillow once again.

I sighed. "What do you think Issac sees in me?"

Barbra lied down next to me, and she turned her head. She smirked. "That's a stupid question to ask."

I gasped, surprised she said that. "Why is it a stupid question to ask?"

"Because...what wouldn't Issac see in you?? You're sweet, funny, and all around gorgeous," she said, smiling at me.

Then, a realization came into my head.

"Barbra.....do you have a crush on me?"

"Oh my goodness, NO! You're just a friend and nothing else, I promise! Plus, why would I make that stuff up about Julissa?," she responded, flabbergasted that would I even consider such a thing.

"I don't know why you would, but THANK GOODNESS you don't have a crush on me. I wouldn't know what I would do," I said.

"Can't I just say you're gorgeous without that having to mean anything?," she asked, her brown eyes squinting into my eyes. "Because you are gorgeous. You know that, right? You're gorgeous on the inside and out."

I grinned.

That night, I fell asleep with a huge smile on my face.