"Skylar Anna Pierce! STOP WALKING!" I stopped walking and turned toward Jamie O'Donnell, my best friend.

"That's better. Sky, I just spent an entire class with the sexiest man alive, including Tom Huddleston!" Jamie had a running obsession with The Actor, as she dubbed him.

"BLASPHEMER! If this is about the new guy, I don't want to hear it. In French class it was 'OMG HOTTAY' this and in English class it was 'bear his children' that. Shawn Wolfe cannot be that great." I said cynically.

Jamie and I went back and forth on that for a while before changing the subject to the finals we took the week before, and then back to Shawn.

"You just wait…" Jamie sang out cryptically, before rushing off to Algebra.

I quickly turned and grabbed my Biology textbook from my garbage pit of a locker. As I closed it I felt an arm pull me against the wall, before I became mesmerized in eyes that were like stars… you know, if stars were brown. I was floating around in a world with brown stars when the mouth that those eyes were indirectly connected to actually SPOKE.

"Laurie, right? I'm Shawn Wolfe, nice to meet you and not have you bare my children." I felt my face burn up at that, and took a moment to look at the boy in front of me. He had long black hair that fell in front of his starry eyes, and stood a little less than a foot over my 5'5" frame. His skin was olive toned, and a contagious smile graced his face.

"Actually, it's Skylar, not Laurie. And I KIND OF have to get to Bio, so if you don't mind…" I pushed his arm off the locker above me and pulled away.

"…so Laurie. Do you have Todd?" Shawn asked, and I nodded. "Me too! Let us be off to the magical land of frogs and the Endocrine System."

With that, he linked his arm with mine and walked off to room 309, only to walk out again to go get a tardy slip from the office.

As you can probably guess, our interaction didn't stop there. Shawn and I were always together, always – sometimes to the annoyance of the school muckety-mucks. It didn't surprise anyone when Shawn and I started dating, because we were good together. We dated for a year, one of the most eventful years of my life. I graduated a few months later and moved to San Diego to take prelaw and later open Pierce Mason Law. It's 9 years later, and I haven't heard from him since.

"Now, for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Bennett!" The best man announced as Jamie walked out with her new husband. They did the whole shtick, the first dances, shoving cake in each other's faces, and the big dinner.

"Congrats Jamie-Girl!" I exclaimed, giving the bride a big hug. As her best friend, I was Maid of Honor, and got to sit next to her at dinner

"Thanks Sky, hey where's Chance?" She asked, referring to my Fiancée of 6 months.

"He couldn't make it; he's on call all week." I lied. At that very moment he was probably in a bar with his friends; he couldn't be bothered to come.

"Oh what a shame." Jamie fired off quickly; she had never liked him. "On the bright side, GUESS who came?"

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. A response wasn't necessary though, because at that moment "guess who" walked up.

"Laurie, right? Shawn Wolfe, and I think you should reconsider baring my children." I turned and faced the man that I had never really gotten over.

"Well, I see the Army has been good for you." I said before I could really consider what I was saying.

Nevertheless, it must've been. His once long hair was now stubbly and adorable. His eyes shined with a brown fire when he smiled, though they dimmed a bit at the mention of the Army. If possible, he was taller than ever, HANDSOMER than ever, and more off limits than ever before.

Between Jamie and Momma, I had heard all about Shawn. He'd gone into the army right out of high school, and after 2 tours came back to start a very successful construction company, which isn't easy to do in small town Mississippi.

Then there's me. Still 5'5'' with pale skin and green eyes. I had grown out my straight brown hair and put in highlights since graduation. Other than that, I still looked like the 17-year-old girl that he'd set his sights on.

"Still single baby doll? Oh, I guess not. What a rock!" He said, looking at my gaudy engagement ring.

"Chance picked it out… s-so how are you?"

One of the reasons I'll never forget Shawn is that he never hesitated. He was never shy, or self-conscious. He never let things get awkward, no matter how awkward the situation wanted to be.

Without a word, he took my hand and pulled me to the yard. The stars had just come out, and we talked and laughed while lying in the damp grass.

"Laur?" I turned to the only person in the world who called me Laurie.

"Do you love him? I mean do you REALLY love him?" Shawn's eyes shone brighter than any of the stars above our heads.

"What makes you say that? We're very happy… You haven't even met Chance!" I sat up and turned to him, more offended than the question warranted.

"I say it because I still love you more than life. When I found out you were coming today I was ecstatic, nothing has changed for me. I can't believe that you don't still feel something too."

"Shawn, I –" he didn't miss a beat.

"Don't worry about it; I just had to let you know. But for both your sakes I hope you do love him, even if he can't begin to deserve you." He meant it too. He wasn't petty enough to lie to me, ever. That's one of the reasons I would always love him.

Maybe it was the stars over our heads, or his intoxicating cologne, or maybe I just couldn't hold my liquor – though I hadn't touched a drop. Whatever the reason, I wasn't myself at that moment. A sane me would've walked away. A sane me wouldn't have let him kiss me, no matter how good it felt.

I was insane, because I was back in high school. We were still in love. I was still the girl he pressed against the lockers and he was still the boy with the starry eyes. We were 17 years old, with everything it entailed. I stopped caring about the past. I stopped caring about anything.

I believe every girl should have a kiss like that, at least once in her life.

And live to regret it.