Allende's The House of Spirits.

On falling in love with a childhood friend - wedged between the innocence of youth and the trappings of adulthood....

They spent that summer oscillating between childhood, which still held them in its clasp, and their awakening as man and woman. There were times when they ran like little children, stirring up the chickens and exciting the cows, drinking up their fill of fresh milk and winding up with foam mustaches, stealing fresh baked bread right from the oven and clamoring up trees to build secret houses.

At other times they hid in the forest's thickets, most secret recesses, making beds of leaves and pretending they were married, caressing each other until they fell asleep exhausted. They were still innocent enough to remove all their clothes without a trace of curiosity and swim naked in the river, as they always had, diving into the cold water and letting the current pull them down against the shiny stones.

But there were certain things they could no longer share. They learned to feel shame in each other’s presence. They no longer competed to see who could make the biggest puddle when they urinated, and Blanca did not tell him of the dark matter that stained her underwear once a month. Without anyone telling them, they realized that they could not act so freely in front of others. When Blanca dressed up as a young lady and sat on the terrace sipping lemonade with her family each afternoon, Pedro Tercero would watch her from afar, without coming closer.

They began to hide when they wanted to play. They stopped walking hand in hand with in the sight of adults, and they ignored each so as not to attract attention.

Nana gave a sign of relief, but Clara started watching them more carefully (147).