“Hello?” I tried to hide the sleep in my voice.
“Mia, don’t tell me you were sleeping! You’re supposed to be going to the dance—first dance of our high school lives!” Krissa was ecstatic. She lived for anything that was a rite of passage for a teenager. We had made plans to attend when it was announced during the morning announcements in first period.
“I … I wasn’t,” I stammered. “I was trying to … to do the geometry homework,” I lied. I could almost see her roll her eyes.
“My sister will pick you up in an hour, okay? I talked to Aria and she said she’d meet us there. I think Jack is giving her a ride or something. I told her I’d call you.” There was no denying the buzz in Krissa’s voice.
“Alright,” I said, rubbing my eyes, “I’ll get ready. See you soon.” I hung up and for the next ten minutes, I stayed in bed and stared up at the ceiling. When I finally did get up, I felt drugged and unmotivated as I opened my closet doors to pick out a pair of black leggings, a black sleeveless turtleneck, and my favorite button-up hooded pullover with purple and black stripes. They were just light enough that I wouldn’t sweat too much if I actually danced. A pair of black Keds finished off my ‘first dance’ outfit, and I was quite pleased when I changed and looked at myself in the mirror. Pulling my dark brown hair up into a ponytail just might help to pull my face into a smile if I did it tight enough, I decided.
Making one last check in the mirror after twenty minutes of grooming, I touched up my mascara and lip gloss. Everything else looked to be in place and my face looked good, even though I had my arm over my eyes for most of my slumber and could have easily had red, swollen eyes. Thank God for small favors.
Glancing at the clock I saw there was enough time for a quick bite before Krissa and her sister picked me up. After a few minutes of poking around in the freezer, I decided on a Swanson chicken TV dinner with mashed potatoes, corn, and a brownie. Nothing like home cooking. Five minutes later, I was enjoying my quick bite.
As I picked at the chicken I thought again about Kyle. Why did he have to be so smooth, so good-looking? His eyes seemed to hide a lot, yet they were warm and drew me in. I remembered the way his lips looked when he took a drag from his cigarette; pink, slightly plump, soft. I shook the thought out of my head and finished eating. I had to stop before I became obsessed—or maybe I was already there.
A quick time-check showed that I only had about fifteen minutes left before Krissa and her sister would be by to pick me up. It was just time enough to brush my teeth and kick-back for a few minutes. Leaning back in front of a silent television, I closed my eyes and immediately saw Kyle leaning against one of the pillars that bordered the commons. I could see his casual smile, the way he crossed his arms as he leaned, his curly blonde hair. Oh, I’m hopeless.
Two car honks from outside startled me. My eyes fluttered open and I jumped up, grabbed my purse and keys and opened the door. Krissa was on her way up the steps of the little two-story house I shared with my mother.
“Hey, you ready?” she asked, but before I could answer she added, “come on, my sister’s waiting.”
We climbed into her sister’s new Chrysler Eagle Talon, taking care not to bump our heads on the low door frame. Kylie, Krissa’s sister, turned around and greeted me.
“Nice car,” I told her. “Birthday present?” Kylie had just turned seventeen and had been driving a 1985 silver Ford Tempo.
“To myself,” she answered. “Work has been very good. Are you ready to see what this baby can do?”
Kylie smiled ruthlessly as she looked in the rearview and grabbed the stick shift, slamming it into reverse and shooting the car backward. Kylie then threw it into first and shot forward with my stomach meeting my spine. The car was fast, that was for sure.
Kylie got us to the school in three minutes flat; a record time. As the three of us unloaded from the car and walked up to the school, I couldn’t help but scan the line of waiting people to see if Kyle was one of them. No luck. I did see Aria and Jack, though, in a deep lip-lock.
“Ugh, get a room,” Krissa said, echoing my exact thoughts out loud.
Aria must have developed exceptional hearing, because she stopped kissing Jack just in time to see us walking their way. “Hey you guys, over here!” she yelled. “We saved you a place in line!”
I wasn’t particularly happy cutting in front of other people, especially when they gave you the evil eye; however, no one was going to say anything with Jack right there.
Aria could barely wait for us to get in line before making introductions. “Mia, Krissa, this is Jack. Kylie, you know Jack already.” I couldn’t help but catch the way she said the last bit as Kylie and Jack politely acknowledged one another. It took a minute for him to notice Krissa and me.
From what I could tell, Jack had a hard shell outside. He smoked, started fights, and probably did drugs as well, but I liked him the moment Aria introduced him. He seemed to be a complete teddy bear toward Aria, and anyone who was a friend of hers was a friend of his as well. I had a feeling that Jack would have my back if I ever needed him to. It was also nice to have another senior as a friend.
After we each paid our five bucks, I pulled Krissa aside and asked what was up with Kylie knowing Jack. Krissa rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder before sharing.
“Well,” Krissa started, “Kylie and Jack dated last year. It was pretty serious until our mom found out and had a fit. She didn’t want Kylie involved with anyone who did drugs, much less even looked like he did drugs.”
“Do you think he still dabbles?” I whispered.
“I don’t know, but I’ll bet Aria does. Anyway, let’s go enjoy ourselves. Let Aria deal with her new boyfriend’s habits.” Krissa pulled me toward the dance floor.
The deejay began playing Snow’s Lady with the Red Dress On, and Krissa cried out how she loved the song. She wanted me to dance with her because there were probably no guys there who would ask us. I jokingly scoffed and we both started dancing to the music. Aria joined in a few minutes later without Jack, explaining between verses that he wouldn’t dance unless the song was slow. I suddenly wondered what kind of music Kyle liked, and if he danced at all.
The song ended much too quickly and Krissa wanted to know if I was hungry. I said that I could use a Diet Coke, and the two of us went to stand in line at the school’s store, leaving Aria to go and cuddle up with Jack.
“So, anything new with Kyle?” Krissa had kept her silence on the subject the whole week and I could tell it was eating her up. She was a much better friend in that respect than Aria. She didn’t like to rub salt in fresh wounds.
“Not really. We walked down the street at lunch today, but he didn’t say much.”
“Who initiated the walk, you or him?”
“He asked me, but it was weird.”
“How so?”
I nudged Krissa as the line was moving and then answered her. “Well, he said he had to go and walked off, so naturally I thought he was just ditching me again. When I turned to walk away, he asked if I was coming with him.”
“Wow, like you can read minds?” She had her hands on her hips and her brow was furrowed.
“I know; my thought exactly!”
I pointed Krissa on as we were up. She gave an order for pizza and a Dr. Pepper, and then pointed to me. I just ordered a Diet Coke since I had already eaten before we came. We had our order within a few minutes and sat on the outskirts of the commons on the floor, both eating in silence and people-watching. Every now and then, Krissa would snicker at someone’s awkward dance moves and I would counter with a smile. After we finished, instead of dancing again right away, we sat cross-legged and watched people