"Okay I'll spin!" Rhona Bennett said, sitting down in the circle on the carpeted floor of Keri Russell's basement. The lights were low, candles were lit, Keri's parents were away for the evening and the older cast members of The Mickey Mouse Club were playing "Seven Minutes in Heaven". At this point, Leah was sweating bullets. She was sixteen years old, and she was pretty sure that she was the only one out of the whole group who had never been kissed. Even that new girl named Britney and that new boy Justin were already locking lips. And they were eleven and twelve years old! Leah felt like the biggest loser ever!

"Hey are you okay?" Nita Booth whispered into Leah's ear. She could sense her nervousness.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." Leah replied. Are you friggin' kidding me? No, I'm not fine! I've never been kissed before, and anyone one of these guys could be my first kiss! Leah wanted to scream. It was true. Anyone of these guys could be her first kiss. She looked around the cirlce at each of the guys. Tony Lucca, Dale Godboldo, Marc Worden, Matt Morris, Ricky Luna, Josh Ackerman, Chase Hampton, and then there was JC. Leah thought for a moment. If it came down to it, kissing JC wouldn't be so bad. He was her bestfriend, and she felt comfortable with him. No pressure.

"So, let's do this!" Rhona said, taking the glass Coca-Cola bottle, placing it in the middle of the circle, and spinning it. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Or maybe it was only tension for Leah. Everyone else seemed all too excited to be randomly locking lips with each other. The only sound that filled the room were the raindrops dripping outside the window. To the others, it may have seemed like a cozy intimate setting, but for Leah it just felt hot and nerve racking.

Please not me, please not me, please not me! Leah silently prayed. Leah let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she saw that the bottle had landed on Keri and Tony.

"Oooh! Big shocker!" Lindsey Alley teased. Everyone knew of Tony and Keri's very public relationship.

"C'mon!" Keri said, grabbing Tony by the arm, and leading him into the laundry room.

"I'll be keeping time!" Ilana Miller announced, checking her watch. "And your seven minutes starts now." She called after the two lovebirds, as they shut the doors behind them.

Keri and Tony's time in the laundry room was exceeded by two minutes. Illana had to knock on the door just to remind them that the game was called "Seven Minutes in Heaven", and not "Nine Minutes and Heaven". The couple was greeted by hoots and hollers from the gang. The game then resumed. Leah was relieved when the bottle this time landed on Nita and Matt. She began to relax and think maybe- just maybe- she could get away without having to lose her "lip-ginity" tonight.

As the game went on the bottle landed on Jennifer McGill and Josh Ackerman, Rhona and Ricky Luna, Illana and Marc Worden, and Lindsey and Chase Hampton.

Meanwhile, Nikki DeLoach was paitently waiting for her turn. She was sure that she was gonna get to kiss JC! Yes, tonight would be the night. It would be Dale and Leah, then Nikki and JC. That was how she mapped it out in her head and that was the way it was gonna go! She was sure of it, so far all of her other predictions had come true! Tonight would be the magical night that she and JC would become a couple. Once they were in that laundry room alone, she would confess her feelings and the rest would be history, because it was obvious that the two were meant for each other. Nikki watched on anxiously as Rhona spun the bottle. The bottle spun at a rapid pace, and Nikki couldn't wait for it to stop at her and JC. When the bottle stopped, Nikki looked up in excitement only to meet Dale's brown eyes, instead of JC's blue ones.

"Wait what?!" Nikki cried. Everyone in the circle turned to look at her. Nikki could feel herself blush in embarrassment at her outburst.

Dale looked across the circle at Nikki and shrugged. "Well I guess that means we have to go to the laundry room." Dale said. He was okay with kissing Nikki, although he actually preferred either Leah, Rhona, or Jennifer. But what the hell? It was only a game!

"I mean... um... Okay fine." Nikki said, giving up. She got up from her place in the circle, and followed Dale into the laundry room.

"So let me take a wild guess." Dale started off. "You wanted to kiss JC?"

"Yes." Nikki admitted, blushing.

"Well, it's only a game. No point in getting all upset over nothing." Dale reasoned.

"It's just... I had everything planned out of how I wanted things to go tonight. I would get picked to kiss JC, and that would be a major stepping stone in our friendship. It would take our relationship to the next level." Nikki explained, frustrated that things hadn't gone her way.

"Wait so let me get this straight." Dale said. "You mean to tell me you planned how a game of 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' was gonna go? You do know this game is random right?" Dale asked.

"I know, I know, it sounds so stupid doesn't it?" Nikki replied. Dale raised an eyebrow.

"It's only a game. Don't take things too seriously. What did you think that Rhona and Ricky, or Illana and Marc are just gonna up and elope after this or somethiing?" Dale asked, laughing. Nikki cracked a small smiled. "Girl, you have got to loosen up. It's not that deep!"

"I guess I just need to get over it, huh?" Nikki asked, and Dale nodded his head. "Well, we have three minutes left, so I guess that means I owe you something."

"Nah, that's okay." Dale replied.

"C'mon, you know you want some of this!" Nikki teased. Dale shook his head, laughing.

"Okay, so knowing what I know now, you don't think that if we kiss it would be awakward?" Dale asked.

"Yeah you're right." Nikki agreed. And with that the two left the laundry room, and were greeted by the Oohs and Ahhs of the group of teenagers on the basement floor.

When Nikki and Dale returned to their places in the circle, the game continued. Rhona spun the bottle. The group watched on in silence as the bottle spun around the circle. It finally landed. Leah nearly died when she saw that it landed on her. She looked across the bottle, and green eyes met blue ones. JC.

"Oooohhhh!" Her fellow Mousketeers chorused.

Looking across the circle at Leah, JC didn't know whether or not to feel relieved or nervous. He felt relieved, because it was only Leah. His bestfriend. No pressure. Or so he thought. Lately, he began to feel a certain way everytime she came around. All she had to do was look at him a certain way, or say his name, and that was it! He would get all nervous and sweaty around her, and acted as if he's never been around a girl. Alone, in a laundry room, for seven whole minutes with Leah? He couldn't decide whether or not that would be 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' or 'Seven Minutes in Hell'. He wanted it to be Heaven. He wanted to spend seven whole entire minutes passionately kissing Leah, and conveying with his lips, what he couldn't seem to express with words. He was afraid that it would be Hell though. Did Leah even want to kiss him? Did she feel the same?

"So... I guess this means that we should um... Ya know..." JC spoke up.

"Um, okay." Leah replied, letting out a shaky breath. She got up and followed JC into the laundry room.

As Nikki watched the laundry room doors close behind JC and Leah, she couldn't help but to feel jealousy course through her veins. She hated to be presumptuous, but she couldn't help but to feel that JC and Leah had feelings for each other, even if the two hadn't realized it yet. Everything from his jet black hair, to his clear blue eyes, his personality, the way he danced, the way he sang. JC was perfect! She was completely head-over-heels for the kid, and so far all he could see Nikki as was a friend.

She always got in the way. Leah. They were always together, and Nikki never got a chance to be with him alone. It was always JC and Leah the two did everything together, and it made her sick. But she hated feeling that way. She wanted so badly to hate Leah, but no matter how hard she tried to she just couldn't. It was so hard to hate someone who was so nice. When The Mickey Mouse Club was auditioning new cast members, Nikki was the only older kid who made the cut. Being that she was older, she didn't really fit in amongst the other kids who were picked with her: Christina, Ryan, T.J., Tate, Britney, and Justin. It was hard to find where she fit in. She wasn't that much older than them, but she was still too old to hang out with them. And she wasn't too much younger than the older kids either, but they weren't as accepting at first. Except Leah, who was the first to formally introduced herself to Nikki. The rest followed suit. Leah was her first friend. She showed her around the set on her first day, and even helped her with her dancing when it was hard for her to catch on to the quick choreography. She even invited Nikki into her home.

Leah was so frustrating. She was gorgeous. Whenever they went to the mall together, guys would break their necks just to get a glimpse of her. Little girls admired her. She sang perfectly, danced perfectly, acted perfectly, and made straight A's. Their choreographers, musical directors, tutor, and acting coach all praised her talents. You would think it would make her head swell, and that a girl that pretty would be bitchy. Wrong. The girl was as sweet as red velvet cupcakes! She was flawless. There was absolutely nothing to hate about her. Except for the fact that she loved the same guy that Nikki did, and that very same guy felt the same for Leah. But she had no proof, so she was back to the same place, with no valid reason to hate the friggin' reencarnation of Mary Poppins- 'Practially Perfect in Every Fucking Way'!

Meanwhile, Leah was sweating bullets. She never though she'd lose her 'lip-ginity' to JC of all people. She wanted this to be good, but she also heard it could be icky. She overheard Jill talking on the phone to one of her friends Lisa, spilling the details about her first kiss. She heard Jill tell Lisa that when some guy named Doug kissed her, it felt like a slug making a beeline straight for the back of her throat. Gross! "Soo..." Leah wandered, sitting on top of the washing machine.

"So, does this mean we?..." JC asked, trailing off.

"I guess we should, well, ya know... kiss." Leah replied nervously.

"Um, okay." JC leaned in towards Leah. "I guess you should go this way, and I should go that way." JC directed. He acted as if he had never kissed a girl before. Boy was this awkward.

As Leah watched JC lean in she began to panic. "Wait!" Leah halted.

"What? Is it my breath or something?" JC asked alarmed, and a little embarrassed.

"No Josh, it's not your breath." Leah giggled.

"Then what is it?" JC asked, relieved that it wasn't his breath.

"It's just that well... This is my first kiss." Leah admitted, embarrassed.

"Oh." JC replied, caught off guard by the revelation. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you've never been kissed?" JC asked. Leah nodded.

"Wow." JC replied stunned. "So, I'm your first?"

"Mmmhmm." Leah mumbled. "But I don't want to make things wierd between us or anything like that!"

"Of course not." JC agreed.

"Well, we've wasted..." Leah glanced down at her pink Hello Kitty watch. "Five minutes already, so I guess we've got two minutes to get down to business."

"Okay." JC replied. "Just close your eyes and relax." Leah did as she was told. She felt JC rest his hands on her shoulders, and before she knew it her lips were connected with JC's. BAM! It was like fireworks! Leah felt her body tingling all over. Was it just her, or did the laundry room suddenly heat up! When JC pulled away, Leah slowly opened her eyes, and locked eyes with JC. Suddenly she felt all dizzy, like the room was spinning. But in a good way.

Looking into Leah's eyes, JC felt all warm inside. He had always felt something, when he was aound Leah, but he was never really sure what it was. Now that feeling was intensified, and JC was sure that it felt so incredibly right, whatever it was.

"Whoa," Leah panted. She had never felt something so amazing in her life. Is this what an orgasm felt like? Because if so, then she wanted to feel like that again!

"Wow!" Was all that JC could say.

"Yeah... Wow!" Leah agreed, almost breathlessly. "So, um... We should probably get back out there." Leah said, pointing at the door.

"Yeah." JC agreed.

When JC and Leah walked back into the deafening silence of the living room, they were met with all eyes on them. And JC thought the kiss would be awkward. It's like they all knew something. But how? Was it really that obvious? JC and Leah took their places back in the circle. Did Leah feel what JC felt. Or was it just him? What was their relationship now? Were they still just friends or something more? That kiss was electric! But afterall, it was only just a game, JC reminded himself. Just a game, and nothing more.

Sitting across the circle, Leah felt all mixed up and confused inside. Lately, she's been getting these weird feelings for JC. Everytime he came around, she started to feel all giddy inside, and nervous at the same time. She figured it was just her teenage hormones getting all out of wack, but that kiss had just confirmed everything that she had been feeling. Scary. It was just a game, just a game, just a game! Leah kept silently chanting. But it was her first kiss afterall. Your first kiss was something special, a special moment that you're supposed to remember for the rest of your life. It was special alright, but it was with JC, who was just her friend. How was she supposed to deal with that? Everytime she would think back to her first kiss, she would always remember how magical and special it was, only to be slapped in the face with the harsh reality that JC was just a friend and that was all he would ever be. That was the hardest thing to accept. JC was the only guy to ever make her feel that way. How could she just let that go? She had to tell someone about this, or else she was certain that she would go absolutely crazy.

Later that night, Leah parked her bike in the backyard of her house, and headed inside. She went straight upstairs to Jill's room to see if she was home.

"Yeah, and I was all like 'no Doug, I'm not going to sleep with you'." Leah could hear Jill on the other side of her bedroom door, talking on her phone. Ever since she got her own private line, you couldn't get her off the thing. "Yeah, I know right? And he was all 'well my parents aren't home babe'." Jill said, imitating a guy's voice. "And I was like 'eww, no! What kinda girl do you take me for? If you want some slutty quickie then ask Stacy Rodowsky, who you had your arm around at the mall just the other day!'.... I KNOW! Can you believe him?!" Jill exclaimed. "He's such a total creep. I can't believe that I ever went out with him!" Leah rolled her eyes. Before Jill could ramble about anything else, Leah lightly knocked on her door.

Jill peeked through the door and rolled her eyes at the sight of her younger sister. "What is it idiot? Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Jill asked annoyed. Sometimes, Leah didn't even know why she even bothered. Jill was impossibly rude, and self centered. Why couldn't they just have a normal sibling relationship?

"I have to talk to you Jill." Leah said.

"Can't you see I'm busy?" Jill said, pointing towards her ear.

Leah sighed. "I just got my first kiss." Leah blurted out. Jill's jaw dropped.

"Lisa, yeah let me call you back!" With that, Jill hung up her phone.

"Get your ass in here now!" Jill demanded, reaching her arm from out of her bedroom door, pulling Leah by the arm and yanking her into the room. Jill slammed her door shut. "So my prude little sister finally got her first kiss?"

"Um yeah." Leah replied, all she wanted was advice, not to be insulted.

"So who was the guy?" Jill asked smirking.

"It was JC." Leah replied, sliding her shoes off, and plopping down on Jill's bed. She crawled up towards the headboard, and grabbed one of Jill's plush pink pillows. That was one of the only things that the sisters had in common. They both loved the color pink.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" Jill asked wide eyed, sitting down on her bed, next to her sister.

Leah shook her head. "Um... No."

"So you finally did it?" Jill asked.

"Finally did what?" Leah asked confused.

"Duh! You finally decided to make a move on him!" Jill replied.

"What do you mean, I 'finally decided to make a move on him?'" Leah asked, quoting her sister.

"It's obvious."

"What's obvious?"

"That you two totally have the hots for each other!" Jill exclaimed

"We do not!" Leah defended.

"Uh yeah you do. You guys practically look like you want to jump each other's bones whenever you're together." Leah's eyes practially popped out of her head.

"That's... that's not true! That's absurd!"

"Oh whatever Mary!" Jill teased.

"Mary?" Leah asked.

"Yeah ya know, like The Virgin Mary." Jill explained.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Are Biblical refrences really necessary?" Leah asked.

"Okay, okay, so tell me how it all went down! Did you catch him off guard, and throw him up against the wall? Did he use tongue?" Jill asked anxiously.

"No, and No!" Leah replied. "We were all at Keri's and we were playing that game, you know 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'? And-"

"Wait, wait, wait, backup!" Jill interrupted. "You mean to tell me that you were playing 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'?"

"Yes." Leah replied, staring at her sister. Jill started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Leah asked.

"You got your first kiss playing a game of 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'? You're not serious are you?" Jill laughed. Leah frowned.

"What?"

"You got your first kiss playing a freaking game!" Jill replied. "That's not real!"

"Well, it sure as hell felt real."

"What do you mean it 'felt real'?" Jill asked. "How would you know what it's supposed to feel like, if you've never been kissed before?"

"I don't know, it's just that the moment he kissed me, I felt... like all tingly inside, and the it suddenly got hot, and the room felt as if it were spinning, and I got all dizzy and felt all light! Is that how a kiss is supposed to feel?"

"Wow!" Jill exclaimed. "All I felt from my first kiss was Doug Stewart's tongue make a beeline straight for the back of my throat. How in the hell did you get so lucky?" She asked.

"I don't know." Leah replied shrugging. "I think it's got to be special. Do you even like Doug? I mean he's so gross."

"Well what's so special about being kissed in a laundry room?" Jill challenged.

"You just don't get it. It felt special. It felt right!" Leah replied.

"Well, you know what this means now." Jill said.

"No, I don't. That's why I'm asking you." Leah replied. Jill rolled her eyes.

"Young naive little sister, what I'm about to tell you, I'm only gonna tell you once so, listen up and listen good." Jill got up from her spot on the bed and began to pace back and forth, her fingers laced behind her back.

Leah sat up to listen intently.

"Sixteen year old boys are all the same. Give em' an inch, and they'll take a mile." Jill said. She looked back at her sister, who was now sitting cross-legged on the bed. "Are you following me?" Jill asked. Leah shook her head no. Jill let out an exasperated sigh. "Leah, that kiss tonight was simply a tease. Now that he's had a taste, he's gonna want more. Of course, that's only if he thought you were a good kisser."

"More as in...?" Leah asked confused.

Jill lightly slapped her palm to her forehead. "More as in SEX!" Jill said to her very sheltered younger sister. Leah had very little experience with the opposite sex. Scratch that, she had no experience with the opposite sex. When it came to Old Hollywood movies, music, and books, the girl was a book of knowledge. But when it came to boys and dating, she was absolutely clueless!

"Oh... Ew! Jill gross!" Leah cried, appalled. "Get real!"

"Okay number one, I am being real. Sixteen year old boys are horny, and they want sex. Number two, sex isn't gross, it's a natural part of life. Has mom never had this talk with you before?"

"No!"

"Oh my God she hasn't?" Leah shook her head. "So you know nothing?"

"Well I'm not stupid! I know that when you have sex with somebody it should be because you truly love them. And I know about condoms, birth control, contraceptives and things like that and-"

"No!" Jill interrupted her. "Not that part of sex. The other side." Leah gave her yet another look of confusion.

"Boys want one thing." Jill repeated.

"You keep saying that! And how does a kiss automatically mean that JC wants to have sex with me, or me with him?" Leah asked.

"A kiss is all it takes." Jill replied. "One kiss can lead to touching, and the next thing you know you're naked together and BAM!" Jill exclaimed, clapping her hands together, and scaring the hell out of her sister. "The next thing you know, you're doing it!"

"Okay, you know what, I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about him, and I don't even know how he felt about the kiss. You're jumping to conclusions, and I don't need to sit her and be insulted because of my virgin status." Leah said, getting up from her sisters bed, and grabbing her shoes. She didn't even know why she decided to ask Jill for advice in the first place. Since when did Jill become such a sexpert? Leah was sure that Jill didn't have much more experience in the sex department. Maybe she had been to second base with a guy at best. Echhh! She should've known better than to ask someone about kissing, who still practiced on their Tevin Campbell and Mario Lopez posters. She would've been better off asking Lucky for advice.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Jill replied. "Wait." Jill called after her sister, while she reached into her underwear drawer.

"What?" Leah asked irritated, her hand on the doorknob.

"Catch!" Jill instructed, throwing a small square silver packet into the air. Leah caught it in her right hand. She looked at the Lifestyles condom in her hand.

"Don't say I never gave you anything!" Jill said.

"Jill!" Leah exlaimed, incredulously.

"Remember, 'no glove, no love'!" Jill teased.

"Ugghh!" Leah stomped out of the room.

She couldn't believe Jill. She was no help at all. When Leah got back to her room, she tore open the condom packet. She had never actually seen what one looked like before. It was thin and latex. Since Leah didn't have any use for it, she decided to blow it up, to where it looked like a big balloon. After she blew up the condom, she went over to her art supply kit, and got out a black sharpie marker, and her ivory balloon ribbon roll. She took the sharpie marker, and drew a smiley face on the front of the balloon-condom, she then tied the ribbon around the tail. She tied the ribbon around her bed post, and stepped back to look at her creation. She smiled to herself. It really did just look like a ballon! Her balloon-condom offered her temporary relief, and took her mind off of that night's event for just a few moments. She laughed out loud at her own silliness.

Later that night, Leah curled up in bed, but she couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking of JC and the kiss. She couldn't believe that she just had her first kiss, and from her bestfriend at that! She didn't know how to feel. She knew that it was only a game, but she couldn't help but to feel something special, and that freaked her out a bit. Up until tonight, she had completely brushed off the butterflies in her stomach everytime he came around. She didn't think that they meant anything at all. Not until he kissed her. That amazing moment when their lips connected was the most magical thing that she had ever felt in her young sixteen years of life, and she wondered how JC felt. It was crazy because they were only supposed to be friends, and that was all. But maybe, just maybe, they could be something more.

That very same night, JC lay in his bed wide awake. He wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Not after what had happened. He couldn't believe that he had actually kissed Leah. Sure it was only a game, but WOW! That kiss was explosive. It's not like he's never kissed a girl before, but this, this was something special. Something different. It was crazy because he's only started to feel a certain attraction towards Leah, but never really thought much of it until that kiss. What should he do? Should he talk to her about it? Tell her how he felt? Ask her if she felt the same? But would that run the risk of ruining their friendship. Sure, it may have been only a game, but to him it felt so... So real! And to think, he was her first kiss! That had to mean something to her right? He could only hope that the kiss was as special for Leah as it was for him. He also hoped that she was thinking of him, the way that he was thinking of her.