Deanna Wood stood at just over 4 feet.  She was small girl however people commented that she was looked much older.  She held herself with a certain grace and wasn’t the least bothered with what people thought of her.  She had curly brunette hair which was long and always seemed to have a mind of its own and big brown eyes that one would say were full of mischief.  At this current moment in time she was sitting on a bench in Central Park waiting, impatiently, for Brandon.  Where is he?  She thought glancing down at her Prada watch.  It was one of the few expensive things she owned and it had been a present from her dad for getting into Birth Wathen.  She didn’t particularly like it for it was too glittery and shiny for her liking but she hadn’t wanted to hurt her dad’s feelings – she would have been much happier with her old Power puff girls watch from when she was 8 years old.  However, she didn’t think it would go down too well at her school,

“Dee! Sorry I’m late…” Brandon trailed off and stopped to catch his breath.  His tousled blonde curls blew slightly in the wind as he bent over and his emerald green eyes sparkled with over-exertion,

“Running away from Catalina again, were we Brandon?” Deanna said, a playful smirk adorning her petite face,

“Ha-ha (!)” Brandon replied in a sarcastic tone taking a seat beside her.  He turned to face her and to his dismay is felt his heart rate quicken slightly.  What was he thinking?  This is Dee! The girl he had all but known for 12 years now.  Deanna looked at him, puzzled by his sudden change of mood – she noticed these things, after all she had known him for so long,

“What’s the matter?  You wanted to talk?” she said placing her small hand on his upper arm.  She pretended not to notice that he flinched under her touch,

“Uh… you know what?  I got to go… err, my dad wants me – yeah I just received a text from him,” he said, whipping out his cell and standing up,

“I didn’t hear anything,” Deanna said, now indeed very puzzled,

“Uh… it was a silent text… yeah!” he said hurriedly before jogging off.

Well that was weird! I wonder what’s up with him, Deanna thought as she picked up her messenger bag and walked off in the same direction as Brandon.

Brandon didn’t know what to do.  He had known Dee for 12 years know and loved her for sure… but ONLY as a sister figure.  She was like the annoying little sister he never had the chance to have.  Brandon was an only child and sometimes it got lonely in that big old mansion of his – so on his 5^th birthday he decided to wonder off because it seemed his parents were busy doing god knows what.  He stumbled across a little play park and saw a little girl about his age swinging playfully,

“Hello!” he said, although a little shy he was intrigued by the girl in front of him.  Her hair was piled on top of her head and her eyes were shining with mirth,

“Hi, who are you?” she replied, jumping off the swing and walking towards him,

“I’m Brandon! It’s my birthday today,” he said proudly, puffing out his chest in the process,

“Happy Birthday, Brandon!” she giggled and threw some leaves around him pretending it was confetti. And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Brandon couldn’t pinpoint when he began to fall for his best friend. Maybe it was about the time of his 16^th birthday party?  He remembered it vividly…

“You are “legal” now, my friend,” said Brandon’s best friend, Dwain Griffin.  Brandon smiled wryly and continued to mess about with his bowtie.  His parents had arranged a big party for him and he had invited all of his friends including Deanna – who no-one knew of apart for Dwain.  It wasn’t that he purposefully kept Deanna away from his other friends; it’s just that he didn’t want her to get teased because she didn’t live on the Upper East Side. People on the Upper East could be ruthless.  This would be the first time that everyone will have met her; he just hoped it went down well,

“Now you’re legal, you can do whatever you like with Deanna… oops, I’m sorry, Catalina,” Dwain said cheekily.  Brandon playfully punched his arm and scoffed,

“As IF, Deanna is one of my best friends and besides, I LOVE Catalina,” he said, maybe a little forcefully for Dwain just raised an eyebrow at him and simply nodded,

“Alright, don’t get your boxers in a twist!” Dwain said, exiting the room.  Brandon looked in the full length mirror and couldn’t help all sorts of thoughts swim through his mind.  Deanna IS beautiful but if he were to go out with her, what if they broke up?  That would ruin the great friendship that had built over the years.  And he knew his parents would never approve, they wanted him to marry someone like Catalina who had a father who owned a well known industry and a mother who was a TV star.

“Brandon?” Brandon whirled around and his breathe momentarily caught in his throat.  Deanna was wearing a simple black dress that was strapless and flared out a little at the bottom.  She had a sequinned white belt going across her waist which accentuated her curves well,

“You look beautiful, Dee,” Brandon said before he could stop he stopped himself.  Deanna stood frozen staring wide-eyed at him. Had he said the wrong thing?

“Thank you,” she said after a while, a light blush creeping onto her face.

Spotted: B running away from D. Oh dear, what caused him to get all flustered?

“Brandon Efrain McDowell, I am talking to you!!” Catalina all but shrieked across the courtyard.  But Brandon kept walking, ignoring her incessant talking – he really was sick of her going on and on about that stupid picture.  Was it his fault that someone decided to take a picture just as he was saying goodbye to Deanna?  Now Catalina thought he was having an affair with his best friend.  I wish, he thought. Bzzz, bzzz.

You’ve been acting weird lately, want to talk bout it? Dee x

Brandon struggled with his response – he was afraid of what he might he do in Deanna’s presence.  What if he suddenly had an urge to kiss her silly?  He was sure that wouldn’t go down to well.