"Can't describe
Words are just not enough
Can't explain
It all happened so fast
What exactly am I feeling right now?
If this is love I got to know somehow
Just how long this madness will last
'Cause I think I'm in love."
—I Think I'm in Love by Kuh Ledesma (Cover by Marié Digby)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"M-my! I w-wonder what t-t-this i-is," I stuttered like a broken train that couldn't be repaired as I tried to memorize my lines.

No good.

I threw the script book at the wall of our "castle."

Leslie laughed out loud as Prince Terrien, or P.T. for short, the gift I'd given Leslie when we were ten years old, sat down beside her. "You're so cute when you're blushing, my king. I mean, my Princess Aurora," she gushed.

I blushed furiously at her remark when she'd mentioned the word "cute." My queen thinks I'm cute? I thought. She says it all the time, but really? Okay, I'm getting sidetracked. Focus, Aarons.

"Shut up, Les," I replied eventually.

Leslie grinned. "Don't be nervous when you're on stage. Just think that there's no audience."

P.T. yawned, as if saying, The queen is right.

"I believe I'm more nervous about my role than the audience," I said glumly. "I mean, I was picked to be Aurora. A. Girl's. Role."

"And I was picked to be Phillip, a boy's role," Leslie said simply. "We were shocked when you fell down from your chair earlier. I had to pour cold water on your face so that you'd wake up."

I put my hands on my face. "Ugh! What was Ms. Thompson thinking? And I can't argue with her. She said that whoever complained about their role would be deducted fifty points! She's blackmailing us, Les! Maybe it's better if we're the king and queen."

"We'll tell Ms. Thompson that we're the king and queen of a magical kingdom," she said, giggling a bit. "Hey, at least you don't have many lines to memorize, since you'll just be sleeping in the middle until the end of the play. Good thing also that our track practices are only every Tuesdays and Wednesdays."

I stood up to get the script book with a defeated sigh. "Come what may."

I sat down next to Leslie and tried to ignore this feeling that'd been bubbling inside me since last year. Like, whenever I looked at her face, heard her laugh, saw her smile, and being by her side. Crazy, I know, but it'd never been this way before. It all changed when we were fourteen years old. Don't count the time when we were ten years old, when it'd been raining hard and I looked at Leslie before heading home. She'd looked back at me, waving while carrying Prince Terrien in her arms with a sweet smile on her angelic face. It was just a teeny, tiny crush.

Yeah, it really started when we were fourteen years old...

  ╪ ╪ ╪  

Leslie, who was wearing her usual colorful outfit, was climbing a tree to see if there was a nest on one of the branches. I was just on the ground, gazing up at her with a smile.

"Jess!" she called down. "There's one right here! And there are three babies in it!"

"Are they cute?" I asked, cupping my hands around my mouth.

"Of course they're cute! Oh, their mama's here now," Leslie said as she began to climb down.

"Be careful!"

Leslie put her right foot on a thick branch, but it slipped. I stared up in horror as she was rapidly falling down toward the ground. "JESS!"

Thankfully, my instinct reflexes kicked in. I rushed to her aid. "LESLIE!"

I stood there with my arms extended, ready to catch her. Then I caught her, bridal style. But since the impact was strong—plus her weight—we both fell onto the ground, with Leslie on top of me.

"Owww," we groaned in unison.

"Jess, I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" Leslie asked in a panicked voice.

I opened my eyes, and the first image I saw was her blurry face. I closed my eyes, then opened them again to see Leslie's green eyes staring at me with worry, her long, wavy blond hair falling down around her face gracefully, which made the sides of my face a little ticklish.

"Shouldn't I be the one who's asking you that question?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

Then we both laughed as we sat on the forest floor.

"But seriously, Jess, are you all right?" Leslie asked again, the worry still visible on her face.

I did a quick check-up on my body. "Well, I don't feel any pain, so yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"Same," Leslie replied.

I sighed in relief. "Thank God."

"Yeah, thank God you saved me." Leslie smiled, making me grin widely.

Then, out of the blue, she hugged me. I was stunned at first, but quickly hugged her back while a blush was forming on my cheeks.

Leslie was blessed by God with a face that could launch a thousand ships, a smile that could melt a thousand hearts, a body that could fascinate a thousand eyes, an inherent charm that could hypnotize a thousand minds. And, most importantly, she was my queen.

That's when I realized that I was falling for my queen, my angel who'd helped me overcome my fears, and my best friend: Leslie Sophia Burke.

  ╪ ╪ ╪  

"Jess! Hello! Earth to Jesse!"

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and then gazed at Leslie, who was waving her hand in front of my face.

She giggled. "Where did your mind go? To Lyrian or Narnia? You had that dreamy smile plastered on your face. Is there something I need to know about?"

I felt my cheeks reddening again. Yeah, you need to know that I love you ever since you fell on top of me last year, but I'm scared to confess it to you because maybe you don't feel the same way toward me and it could ruin our best friendship. "N-nothing's wrong, Les," was my only reply.

"Oh." I think I heard disappointment in her voice, which made me quickly look at her face. There was sadness in her eyes, but when she blinked it was gone. I guess I just imagined it.

"Anyway, I want to talk to you about the rumors of the mansion. Do you believe in all of them?" Leslie asked.

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. Not all of them, I guess. Why?"

"Because I don't believe in any of them. That's why I want to investigate the mansion," she firmly said.

My jaw dropped to the castle's floor. She'd said it so casually that I thought she meant: Let's eat Oreo cookies.

"You know me, Jess," Leslie continued when I didn't answer her. "I'm an adventuress, and you're an adventurer. We love adventures and mysteries. We need to go exploring and investigating!"

Since when did I love mysteries?

I pointed at her nose accusingly. "You've just been reading too much Sherlock Holmes books, I presume."

Leslie waved my finger away dismissively. "You're right there, detective. So, you up for it or not?"

"Um, did you forget what I told you about Old Man Chris and Lucas Stigile?" I questioned.

"No, I didn't forget." She paused. "Say, Jess..."

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the mansion before? I gained knowledge about it when it was trending at school last month."

I shrugged. "I don't care about the mansion, so yeah. And 'sides, Les, we have Terabithia."

Leslie noded. "So, we'll go this Saturday?"

I turned to Leslie, and she was giving me her puppy-dog eyes, making me sigh in defeat. I couldn't say no, especially when she was giving me that kind of look. She knew my weakness.

"Okay. Fine. You win, Les," I relented a moment later.

Leslie's face lit up. "Thank you so much, Jess!"

"You know we always do things together, right?" I said, smiling.

She smiled back. "That's why I lo—"

Then a thunder boomed so loud, I thought our ears would become deaf, and the clouds started to cry big time.

Great, I thought sarcastically.

"Do we have umbrellas?" I asked Leslie.

She rummaged inside the trunk where we kept our things, and then got two umbrellas.

We climbed down from the tree house as I carried P.T. with one arm, the umbrella in my hand. He'd gotten bigger and heavier, but I managed to go down with no problem.

I set him down, then he ran ahead to keep us on track, since we could barely see anything from the heavy rain pouring down.

I held Leslie's hand and followed P.T.. I was just guiding her, but I could feel my face heating up. Again.

After walking carefully for a few minutes, we finally saw the bridge. Atop of it was a shield sign with "Nothing Crushes Us" written on it that Leslie and I had put. The bridge was standing for five years now.

Our fathers had made the bridge when Leslie and I had gone to the Smithsonian Museum with Ms. Edmunds to surprise us.

We just want you kids to be safe. And that rope you were using to cross the creek looks dangerous now, Mr. Burke had said after we'd seen their gift. We'd thanked our fathers and promised to be extra careful whenever we played in the woods.

As we neared the bridge, I noticed something in my peripheral vision. I turned to my right and saw a black silhouette running through the trees.

My eyes widened, shocked. No. It can't be!

P.T. began barking while running toward the fading silhouette.

"P.T.!" I screamed and followed him, releasing Leslie's hand in the process. I dropped the umbrella so that I could run faster and I was instantly soaking wet.

"Jess!" I heard Leslie shout as she ran behind me, but I ran faster.

I dodged the trees' overgrown roots in my way while running. I nearly slipped on a muddy floor, but I was glad I'd caught my balance.

Minutes passed when I turned around a corner. I stopped and panted heavily. I didn't see the silhouette anymore. Even P.T. stopped to sniff around, but to no avail.

"The Dark Master's back," I whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you've noticed, nothing drastic happened to Leslie in this story. Let's just say that Ms. Edmunds knew that Jesse and Leslie are neighbors. That's why she invited them both to the museum (feed two birds with one scone!). And Jesse wasn't the one who made the bridge. I just want it to be different from the other LDD stories out there. And when they were ten years old, it was year 2007. I followed the year when the film was released, so the year now in my story is 2012.