Why did my dad have to bring me right on time?
My eyes dart around as I fidget with the zipper of my backpack, filled with clothes to spend the night at Kristin's with Alexis and Aayla post-dance. I'm the first one to arrive at the designated spot before the dance as the sky changes from blue to pinky orange as the sun drops low over the hills.
"Let's meet at 7 pm outside the gym at the bench, and we'll all walk in together," Alexis had posed the day before, and we had all readily agreed because heaven forbid you enter a middle school dance by yourself.
I bend over, adjusting the band of my silver low-heeled strappy shoes, then brush smooth my new sheath-type blue dress that fits me nicely but not too tight. I straighten my velvet choker necklace and run my fingers through my hair, pinned half up. I feel good—nervous, yes, but excited.
It'll be fun—even if I don't talk to Giovanni, I remind myself, but my insides just won't stop fluttering.
Just as I think that Kristin arrives, sliding up to my side, tucking her reddish-brown wavy hair past both ears and fixing me with her big, husky, light blue eyes.
"Have you seen you-know-who yet?" she nudges me, wiggling her eyebrows.
Warmth immediately travels up my neck to my cheeks, and my throat goes dry. "No, not yet." I rasp.
I had managed to avoid the third-degree interrogation at lunch yesterday by volunteering to help set the gym up for the dance. But I suspect I won't escape it for much longer.
"We are going to have so much fun tonight! I rented Reality Bites, and Mama got movie popcorn, ice cream, and sodas," her bright eyes twinkling with excitement. Kristin's the movie buff, and her parents have one of the biggest plasma-screen TV's I've ever seen. She is also extremely smart but loves to joke and be silly, too, and the tomboyish one of the group—even at fourteen, she has the curviest figure of us all but tries to keep that as private as possible under the baggiest of clothes. Tonight, she's wearing black dress pants and a Nirvana shirt.
Alexis strolls up next, elegant as usual. "Fabulous, you guys are here first. Kristin, I told you to wear a dress!"
"It's the Head Banger's Ball! Sheesh! Like I would wear a dress!" She snorts, giving Alexis an exaggerated, incredulous look.
"What happened yesterday with Giovanni!" Alexis whispers, sitting down next to me on the bench, wide-eyed with a teasing lilt in her voice. "You're non-stop supplying us with boy gossip these days."
"Yeah, you guys just disappeared for all of lunch. Did you go make out or something?" Kristin jibes, grinning.
"God, Kristin! No, I just talked to him about what happened to Charlie."
"But you like him, don't you? We saw it written all over your face when you sat beside him yesterday. That's who Metric is, isn't it? Gio-Metric." She bites her lip to hold back her Cheshire grin when she sees my face go beet red. Shit.
"Very clever code name, Ren, But you knew we'd crack it eventually." Alexis smiles smugly. "Well, Gio's a much better choice for you than Charlie, but you know they're best friends! Charlie will be pissed! And probably Aayla too..." she adds, almost to herself.
Crap! I was afraid of that. I'm not too worried about Charlie being pissed, but Aayla's a different story.
"Nothing happened yesterday," I overemphasize, attempting desperately to downplay it. "We talked about nothing important." My voice is perfectly composed, but my still, deeply blushing face betrays me.
YOU ARE READING
The Fate of Our Hearts
General FictionI was shocked to see whose still bewitching eyes had just accidentally met with mine. Giovanni! A boy, a crush, and one fantastic kiss. I thought I'd never see him again. It's the mid-90s on the West Coast. Grunge music, mix tapes, pagers, skateboa...
