March 5, 1998

Aaron said he wouldn’t go out with Jenna, but he wouldn’t say why not. [Let’s see here…]

But more importantly: I guess Zach does love me. He always hangs out at my locker right before third period. And he calls me nearly every day. Tonight, he called at like, 7pm. We talked for about 45 minutes. He said he is going to a seventh-grade dance and I made him promise not to kiss Amanda Collins or any of the other girls who pursue him.

Then my mom came home from book club. The phone rang, and she answered it, and told whoever it was that I couldn’t come to the phone because I am grounded. A couple of minutes later, Steph called and told my mom it was for homework. [The old “it’s for homework” ruse!] I took the portable phone and went upstairs.

Steph said, “Aaron just called me and asked for Jenna’s number!” I called downstairs and asked my mom who had called me just before Steph did, and she said, “Aaron.” Good, at least he called me first.

I hung up on Steph [!] to call Aaron, because even if he was on the phone with Jenna, he has call waiting. He answered and I said, “Hi, are you talking to her?”

“To Jenna? Yeah. Who is this?” [Ouch.]

“It’s Emily!”

“Oh, hi, what’s up?”

“Are you going to ask Jenna out?”

“No, why?”

“Well, then why did you call her?” [My goodness, I was a Nosy Nancy.]

“I don’t know. Do I have to have a reason? She asked me the same thing. As soon as I told her it was me, she goes, ‘Why are you calling me?’”

“Well, you need a reason to call someone.”

“No… no, you don’t.”

“Well, you can go back and talk to her now, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, bye.”

 Aaron and I have become really good friends. [Clearly.]

My sister said, “You think you can trust him, but you really can’t. He’s a smooth talker. Did you notice how he just started calling you after you went to third base with Zach? Do you think there might be a reason for that? Like, maybe he wants some?”

I shrugged. Maybe that’s true. Aaron and I have a flirtatious friendship. If Zach saw us talking together, he would get jealous.

But you know what? Aaron hasn’t hugged me in the longest time. He touches my hands a lot [like one does], but he hasn’t hugged me lately. I think I’ll tell him that he needs to hug me more. He’ll probably laugh, in that cute way of his.

Zach:

Calls me a lot, Is in my grade, Likes me for who I am, Is embarrassed to be going out with me, Popular, Must love me since we’ve been going out for so long, Sometimes makes me mushy inside, Must be love, Not a very good liar, Critical of whatever I do, say, or wear, Can’t hold a deep conversation, Doesn’t understand how people think, only how he thinks, Doesn’t have any zits, Is in the popular group and is one of the most popular boys, A good kisser, Very huggable, Told me he loved me twice, Has a pointy nose

Aaron:

Calls me a lot, Hugs me and touches me, Jenna would hate me if I went out with him, Older, Has a reputation for using girls just to get some, Always makes me mushy inside, Could be infatuation, Smooth talker, Tells my sister, “Emily is cooler than you are”, I’m not sure if he can hold a deep conversation, Doesn’t know how to take a hint, Has a lot of (a few) zits, Doesn’t really have a group, just runs around talking to everyone, I don’t know how he kisses, Very huggable, Tells me he loves me, but he says that to everyone, Has a big nose