Sneak a peek - YA Heaven

Have you ever caught someone looking at you, and it's an attractive someone who sets your heart aflutter? The sneaking sideways glance, the blush when you catch them, or they catch you. The stomach-churning thought of talking to them. It was the height of my day as a teenager.

This afternoon when I was driving my kids to footy training I saw just such a moment when stopped at the traffic lights. I promise I'm a people watcher, not a creepy peeper. I was drawn to their interaction, taking me back to when I was 15.

On opposites sides of the road waiting to cross was a girl from private school, in one of the dorkiest uniforms I had ever seen. But she had beautiful long wavy brown hair spilling out from underneath her hat. Across from her was a tall dark-haired teen, minus a shirt. He obviously played a lot of sport.

He spotted her checking him out, and smirked to himself. She blushed and tried to look coy. I could see both their postures shift. She tried to look like she wasn't that into him, and failed badly. He kept moving around in poses to show off his shirtless physic.

They kept sneaking looks at each other and as the green light came on for them to cross they locked eyes, turning their heads to look eye-to-eye as they passed. She blushed again and he looked decidedly pleased at her reaction (as did she at his).

I wanted to yell at him "Don't be an idiot - go get her number" but there can be something romantic about that elusive person who is an unknown quantity. Those moments can mean so much.

I remember one time at a train station I was in a rush to get where I needed to be, and felt anything but attractive. A guy walked by and looked straight at me and said "Beautiful, just beautiful." Then he disappeared into the crowd. Boy did I smile for the rest of the day.

But it's moments like these that is why I love reading and writing YA. That innocence, those daydreams, the whole notion of what could be and is to come.

So - got any memories to share? Tell us about why you love YA so much.