Give It a Chance for Our Love to Start

I woke up to the smell of Mrs. Lions' (or as she constantly told us to call her Laura's) famous pancakes. Grinning, I sat up quickly, ready to run downstairs. These pancakes were heaven, seriously one of a kind. No matter how many times I had had my mom try to remake these, they were never the same. Maybe it was just being here, back in Texas with Tinsley and everyone else that made them all the more special. I jumped out of bed, trying to figure out how many I could have before I got sick. And that was when I saw the stack of pancakes on the table in my room. I smiled. Tinsley had probably put these here for me, telling me something about our emails. I had, of course, mentioned Bethany's mom's pancakes countless times. There was a note laying beside the plate of pancakes. I smiled to myself. Had she written me a love note?

Hey rock star,

We didn't want to wake you, seeing as you snuck back in pretty late last night ;] But yeah, I thought you would have wanted some pancakes before Nick ate them all. I know how much you love them.

Oh and the guys took Frankie somewhere, but we're at the dance rehearsal for the contest tonight. The directions are below. Enjoy. And see you soon.

Good eats, Romeo.

I smiled to myself. It had to be from her. Nobody here knew I had snuck out to go see her. Only her and me. I knew she liked me, even without having seen each other, we were meant to be. Even though Tinsley was beyond beautiful, I loved her before I had even seen her. And I loved her more and more with every email she sent back. I looked over the note again. The contest was tonight? I had completely forgotten. Bethany had mentioned it to me last night before I left for Tinsley's. I could tell that it was really important to Tinsley. But I couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she had never mentioned it in her emails if it meant so much to her. But a dance contest? Hmm… that had so many possibilities. Like making Tinsley wear my necklace. I quickly ate the pancakes she left me and got ready to meet everyone at the dance studio.

[&&&]

Joe snuck out last night. I heard him creeping out and later, coming back in. I knew he didn't know I knew. But I did. I heard him. And I couldn't sleep after that. He went to see Tinsley that much was clear. He didn't know anyone else here well enough to sneak out to see them, and besides, he loved her. Not that I could blame him, of course. She was beautiful.

I wondered what Joe was doing. He was probably still asleep. He had come back kind of late. I hoped he got up before the pancakes got too cold. I was in the stands, not paying much attention as Tinsley commanded the girls dancing. Tonight was the big dance contest. And Tinsley always won. There were no maybes. She was always the winner. And for good reason. Not only was she beautiful beyond words, but also she was the best dancer around. Her mother who was a choreographer for music videos for many singers when she was alive. And Tinsley was every bit as good and beautiful as her mother before her. I had always thought that without her mother, Tinsley turned to the thing that meant the most to her mother after Tinsley – dancing, and she felt connected with her. As lazy as Tinsley was about school work and other stuff, she always gave her all in dancing.

I sighed, shaking my head as I turned back to my book, Pride and Prejudice, which I was reading for the millionth time. The love story between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy – it always knew how to leave me completely breathless. I wanted that love, the kind that made the guy forsake class, society, everything. The kind that filled me completely. I sighed. I would never get that. I would never have the love of my dreams, of my books. The love of my life was in love of my best friend, my sister.

"What's cooking, good looking," Tinsley said as she jumped into my lap, drinking water as she watched the girls dancing. She sighed, looking at the book in my hands. "This again Bethany?" I shrugged. "It's not real. Love isn't really like this."

"You're wrong," I said quietly. "Love is real. It's there."

Tinsley rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to look out for you babe. You know I love you. That's real. This fake bull this Jane whatever portrays in her book is just – not. Besides, even if it were, you wouldn't be able to find it because you'd be so wrapped up in reading love stories rather than living them."

I didn't reply. I just shrugged. There was no point in arguing with Tinsley over this. To her, there was fawning and there was admiration in relationships. But she wouldn't believe in love until she felt it, which she swore she'd never do. No guy was good enough for her – except Joe. "Jane Austen," I said quietly. "Felt this love. It's partly her experience, you know."

"How do you know she wasn't making it up," Tinsley challenged.

"How do you know she was," I asked back.

Tinsley sighed, putting the book down next to me. "Whatever, this is boring. Anyways, how amazing do we look?"

"Extremely hot," a voice said from next to us. We both turned to see Joe standing there, grinning at us. My eyes wondered to Tinsley's face for a split second, but that one-second was enough. I could see that Tinsley was starting to fall for him.

"Pervert," she smirked, standing up.

Joe sighed, sitting down next to me where Tinsley had lay the book. He picked it up and looked it over. "Hey, Pride and Prejudice." He looked at Tinsley expectantly.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Don't tell me you're into that crap too. I'm leaving before I get a migraine." She walked back to the dancers.

I sighed, shaking my head. Joe's face was clearly confused. I smiled at him, thinking of a way to change the subject before he could question how my favorite book was Tinsley's least favorite when it should have been the other way around. "So you're actually up, huh," I asked, smirking and letting him know that I knew he had snuck out. "I thought you'd be asleep over another few hours, with the time you came in last night."

He laughed. "Tinsley told you huh," he asked, obviously not knowing that I had heard him.

"Um yeah," I lied, still smiling.

He smiled. "I'm not surprised. You know, she left me your mom's pancakes and a note this morning when I woke up. It was really nice."

I felt my face drop. He thought the pancakes and note – my note – was from Tinsley.