FIRST KISS (High School Romance - FYI - In need of redrafting/rewrites)

Chapter Twenty

"It worked, right?"

When I came out into the corridor mom, dad and Ali were waiting to take me home. I had her dress draped over my arm in a suit carrier.

Ali grabbed my arm and whisked me off leaving mom and dad trailing behind us. She was full of energy, smiling from ear to ear, riding my high.

"Yeh, I guess it did."

"I saw him sneak backstage. What did he say?"

"Bryce? Umm...he didn't say much really. He just wanted to tell me that he enjoyed the performance."

"Oh, sure he did." She made a noise in the back of her throat that indicated she didn't believe a word of it. Her hair was all tucked up under a cream coloured woollen hat, a few blonde tendrils escaping from underneath. She looked adorable.

"OK, maybe it was a bit more than that," I said, trying to keep a straight face, but when Ali laughed, I couldn't help but smile.

"Trust me. This will definitely work. And have you got a date yet?"

I nodded. "Yup. Luke Draper."

Her brow creased. "Luke? Was that the best you could do?"

"The guys aren't queueing up to ask me, Ali."

"Well that must be because you're sending out the wrong vibes, because you're gorgeous." She pushed open the door and the November breeze hit us like a million icy fingertips. I pulled my coat tighter across my chest and we ran to the car.

*

People were still talking about my solo the following morning at school. It was as though, overnight, I had been elevated to High School celebrity status. Some of it was derogatory, admittedly, but I put that down to jealousy or just plain mean-spiritedness. It takes a lot of courage to get up and perform in front of people you know.

"You were so great! I am so proud to be your friend right now," said Anna as we walked to homeroom. "Did I see Luke scuttling backstage to see you?" She pursed her lips and smiled on one side of her face, making a dimple sink in her cheek.

My heart juddered; if she had seen Luke, had she also seen Bryce? Had anyone seen him? More importantly, had Taylor noticed?

"Yeh, you saw him."

"And?"

"And he asked me to the winter dance."

She clapped her hands together and skipped a step. "I knew it! Yay. This is so exciting. Do you want to get ready at mine before? Then we can go together."

"What about Luke and George?"

"They can come together to get us from mine. I want to ask Olivia and Jen too; they're going with Mark and Ben. It'll be so much more fun if we girls get ready together. My mom might even give us champagne before!"

"Really?"

"Yeh, you know she doesn't care about any of those under-age rules. She grew up in France; she was practically breast-fed on red wine."

"Yuck." I frowned. "But we can't all get in one car."

"If we get a limo we could all fit."

She had to be kidding.

"A limo? How would we even afford one?"

"Oh just for fun. It'll be tongue-in-cheek. I mean, I know they're totally tacky."

"But how would we pay for it?" If she wasn't going to think about the practicalities here, I had to.

"Well" - she fluttered her eyelids at me - "you could ask Luke."