"Mummy..."
"Yes, Sweetheart?"
"We have to write a story for school and I'm confused." Catherine looked up from her page. "Is unrequited like Uncle Bob with his smoking? Like, he quit and restarted, then re-quit again and again. Seems he's unrequited every few weeks."
Rachel shook her head and laughed. "No Sweetheart. Well not exactly. He loves his tobacco, but it hates him. It's dangerous, so he tries to stop. The saddest thing about tobacco is that it's very addictive, very hard to turn away from once you're hooked."
Catherine twirled a tress of her thick red hair in her fingers. "So what's this mean, then, unrequited love? That's what we have to write about."
"It's pronounced un-re-quite-ed, Dear. Probably the best way to explain is to call it one-sided love. Unrequited love is that which isn't recognised or returned by the one who's loved."
"Like David?" She looked up and blushed, then sighed.
"David? You have a crush on David?"
"For a long time. He doesn't even notice it. He acts so silly whenever we're near each other."
"Come, Sweetheart. Let's go cuddle on the couch and have a talk. We haven't had a girl-to-girl talk for awhile."
They lay back side-by-side, snuggled together and were silent for a long time, simply enjoying their closeness. Rachel's eyes wandered down Catherine's front and she smiled at the blossoming that she hadn't previously seen. It appears we have several things to discuss. "So tell me about David."
"Oh, Mummy, he's so... He's so. I don't know what he's... He just makes me tingle to think of him. He's so smart, brilliant actually. He always looks so confident. God, is he cute!" Her face flushed.
Rachel watched the telltale tightening under Catherine's top and smiled inwardly in fond remembrance of her own youth. "I think he's just shy."
"But he isn't, Mummy. He looks so confident when he's talking with all the others." She picked up a thick tress of hair and began winding the curls around in her fingers. "Crazy, though, with me he acts so silly. He stumbles over his feet and it's like he's forgotten how to talk. I just stand there not knowing what to say." She shook her head. "After standing there looking at his silly grin for a while, I give up, turn and walk away."
"Then you're both doing that."
"Doing what? What do you mean, doing that?"
"Acting silly and tongue-tied, the both of you."
Catherine slowly nodded her head. "Silly, isn't it? I see him and I go all funny. I begin feeling strange." She turned her head and looked up into her mother's eyes. "He's going through the same thing, isn't he?"
"Yes, Sweetheart. You're both now discovering some of the deeper emotions that come with maturing. You're unfamiliar with them, don't know what they are and you're embarrassed by your responses."
"So, you think he likes me too?"
"Certainly seems so to me. From what you've said, this definitely isn't unrequited love."