In E.R. Frank's Friction, 14-year-old Stacy informs 13-year-old Alex and some of their middle-school classmates that Simon, their science teacher and soccer coach, likes Alex, which takes on significant meaning after Simon's hand accidentally brushes Alex's, "[...] little, but not a bad shape," breast in school, which left Alex's chest, "[...] warm and soft [...]"
And after Alex accidentally sees Simon's penis, "[...] his rain-slicked wet thing above a jiggling sack of skin, and a nest of brown hair. Everything." on a camping trip, Alex couldn't get her science teacher's, "[...] thick-looking and sluggy [...]" thing out of her head.
After Stacy continues to spread the rumor that Simon is attracted to Alex, Tim, a middle-school classmate, informs a bewildered Alex that, "Older men like younger women [...] Everybody knows it, Alex. Come on." Subsequently, Alex begins to think that maybe she likes her science teacher as well. She said:
"What if that slow, sliding feeling I've been getting lately is because I like him? Most of me knows it can't be, but then why am I suddenly restless sometimes, in the middle of the night or at school, or even on the soccer field? Why do I want to feel something light, maybe on the arm or the lips, and how come, even though I think it was an accident that time Simon touched my chest, I can't get it out of my mind?"
But after Stacy's doctor suspects that the middle-school student has been sexually active, she accuses Simon, her science teacher slash soccer coach, but incest may be the more likely source of the nymphet's sexual experience(s).
Publishers Weekly wrote of Friction: "Sure to spark heated discussions, this provocative novel is a reminder that words spoken carelessly can have lasting, painful repercussions. Ages 12-up."
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