“Oooh, he is soo cute! You should totally ask him to dance,” squealed the short, brunette girl dancing in circles around me as we stood in the middle of what was supposed to be a “winter wonderland” but was really just our gym with a lot of cotton taped on the walls.
“But, Alice, I don’t want to,” I protested as I looked around us. Even though a lot of people had shown up, most people were just standing along the wall or in the middle of the floor talking to each other. “I don’t know if you realized this, but you’re the only person dancing.”
“No, I’m not. Besides, who cares? And don’t try to change the subject,” Alice told me as she continued to flail her arms around her head, trying to keep up with the fast rhythm of the music. Does she really have to dance like that? I thought as she said, “You’re asking that boy to dance.”
“You know, the music is kind of giving me a headache. I think I may go home,” I said as I raised my hand to my forehead like the girls who are about to faint in those old movies do.
“Oh, stop being such a sissy. Just go over there and ask him. I’m sure he would never say no to a pretty girl like you,” Alice reassured me as if she knew what my next comeback was going to be.
“Why don’t you ask him to dance? You’re the one who can get anyone to say yes, not me,” I told her as I crossed my arms over my chest. Please just drop it.
“Yes,” Alice said, her hands on her hips, “but I’m not the one who that boy is checking out.” As she spoke Alice pointed over my shoulder to someone. As I turned to glance at who she was pointing at, my eyes met the bright green eyes of a tall, thin boy standing across the gym by the punch table. While I was trying to get a better glimpse of him I noticed his eyes quickly dart away from mine as if he was embarrassed about something.
“Oooh, you should definitely ask that boy to dance. If you don’t, I certainly will,” Alice informed me when she saw who I was looking at.
“But I don’t even know who he is! I’ve never even seen him before!” I objected as I thought: Maybe if I prove to her that I don’t know any guy here, she won’t make me ask anyone. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince her, I mean, where am I supposed to meet guys? We go to an all-girls high school.
“Sure you have. He was at the football game the other day, wasn’t he?” Alice looked at me as if I would know. “Even if that wasn’t him, I know he goes to Cedar High School, so you know he’s gonna be nice.”
Great. How is it that she knows everyone? “Fine! I’ll go ask him to dance,” I sighed as I pushed my scarlet hair out of my eyes. “But only if you ask someone, too.”
“Okay, I see someone already,” Alice told me as she began walking away towards a group of boys standing along the wall.
Slowly, I started walking towards the boy by the punch table. As I got closer to him, he shifted nervously from foot to foot as if he knew what I was about to do. When I got next to him, I took a deep breath and asked, “Would you like to dance with me?”
He looked up at me, was quiet for a few seconds, then whispered nervously, “Yes, I’d love to.”
Just as we started walking towards the dance floor the loud, fast music grew slower and softer, just like it always does in those chick flicks about the geeky girl turned cool who always gets the guy. Well, at least now I won’t have to pretend I know how to dance. All I have to do is sway back and forth and let him lead. Nervously, I glanced at the boy to find his face unchanged as though he did not even hear the music change. As I turned to put my suddenly shaking hands on the boy’s shoulders I saw Alice smiling at me over her partner’s shoulder. For some reason I had a feeling that she had something to do with the music’s sudden change, especially since she was dancing nearby the DJ. As we began to sway back and forth to the music the boy said, “My name’s James. What’s yours?”
“Rebecca,” I replied. “Thanks for agreeing to dance with me.”
“Thanks for asking me,” James said as he shook his curly, blond hair out of his eyes. Wow, he’s really cute. “I’m glad you have more courage than I do. I kept on debating whether or not to ask you to dance. Then when you asked me I couldn’t say no.”
“Well then I’m glad I decided to ask you,” Not like I had much of a choice. I think Alice would have done anything to get me to dance. Suddenly, I noticed that the song had started to fade into a different, faster one.
“I’m glad you did, too,” James smiled as I felt my cheeks get warm. Why do I always have to start blushing when I’m talking to a cute boy? “Would you like to keep dancing?”
Did he really just ask me that? Eek! I can’t believe he wants to keep dancing! “I’d love to,” I replied as the music grew louder.