Just Between Friends by A. Wolfe

little sister would come to her with her problems.  “Whatever it is, Cassie,” she assured, “you can trust I won’t say a word of it to anyone.”
     
         Cassandra seemed to consider this, and after a short silence, she began, “Don’t laugh at me, okay?”  She shifted her body nervously, and hugged the pillow tighter, before she continued.  “I was just wondering, how do you get a boy to notice you?”  Her face had turned a bright red.
     
         Miranda had a hard time keeping the smile off her face.  She knew Cassie was old enough to be interested in boys, for she had turned fourteen already, but she was acting so embarrassed it was hard for her to give her a serious answer.  Cassie had always been a sort of tomboy.  Oh, she had liked playing with dolls, but she had also liked fishing, stick ball, climbing trees, and other more masculine things too.  Now, here she was talking about boys.
     
         She debated for a moment as to how she should answer.  “Well,” she began, “first of all, Cassie, don’t ever change what you are for any boy.  If a boy doesn’t like you for you, then he’s not worth your time.  You can put on a pretty dress, fix your hair up nice and even put on some nice smelling perfume.  That always gets their attention, but never change the way you are inside.  Just let him know somehow that you’re interested in him.  If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”
     
         Cassandra nodded, letting this sink in.  Loosening her grip a little on the pillow she had crushed to her chest, she seemed to relax a little.  “Yeah,” she agreed, “I guess you’re right.  I think he does kind of like me though.  I see how he watches me when he doesn’t realize I notice.”
     
         Miranda had her suspicions of who it was, but it had to be Cassie’s decision to tell her or not, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Is it someone I know?”
     
         Cassie blushed.  “Yeah, I guess so, but if I tell you, you have to promise not to make fun of me.”
     
         “You know I would never make fun of you, Cassandra!”  Miranda exclaimed.  Even though she deserved it sometimes, she thought.
     
         “Well, okay,” she finally agreed.  After taking some time to decide if she should reveal this much, she almost stuttered the words, “It’s Ben Williams.  Now, remember, you said you wouldn’t make fun of me.  I know he’s three years older than me,” she continued almost defensively, “but I’m fourteen now, and I think he’s the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen.  Whenever I see him, my heart starts pounding and my hands get all sweaty.  What am I going to do?”  She finally finished.
     
         All of these words had seemed strange coming from her little sister’s mouth.  Still, she was waiting on an answer, but she had to think, before she spoke.  She too suspected that Cassie was right about Ben’s feelings for her.  She noticed it too, that special attraction they seemed to have for each other.  Still Ben was Alec’s brother and she didn’t know what to do about that.  It would always be very awkward if anything developed between Ben and Cassie.
     
         If he ever became her brother-in-law, that would mean she would always have run-ins with Alec, and she didn’t know what that would do to him.  Still, her sister had come to her for advice, and she would help her all she could.
     
         Ben and Cassie had been enemies when they were children.  He would pick on Cassie relentlessly, taking her dolls, calling her names, and such, until Ben reached about the age of thirteen, when he suddenly became very protective of her.  He would come to her rescue, until no-one dared come near her.  Now, everything made sense.  It was his feelings for her that made him act that way, she was sure, and Miranda was determined to do all she could to help them.
     
         She knew Cassie was waiting on an answer, so