Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1) (38 page)

When she found out I was going to the dance with Kraig, her tone changed. Well, it changed a little. Suddenly, she kept singing Kraig’s praises, even though she never took the time to really know him. She went totally overboard and it was really annoying to both Kraig and I. Even Patrick couldn’t get her to stop. She claimed she was trying to play Cupid because she wanted me and Kraig to be happy. What a load of crap. She didn’t care about me or my happiness. She wanted me to get distracted enough with another guy, so I wouldn’t be friends with Patrick anymore. Even if I did like Kraig that way, Patrick was still my best friend and nothing or anyone would change that. And
if
something were to develop between me and Kraig, it wouldn’t be due to Becca, it was Lindsey’s idea for us to go to the dance together. But that was a big
if
.

We finalized all our plans for Saturday’s dance. I was designated photographer, mostly because I didn’t want to dance. Well, I couldn’t. I would not only likely hurt myself, but be a danger to those around me. I think the abject fear and seriousness of my voice saying I wouldn’t get out there on the dance floor convinced them that. I was really fine with taking pictures. I was glad to have something to do while they had fun and danced. It would be fun, I was looking forward to it.

Since Kraig had originally planned to go to the dance alone, I insisted that he keep with his plan to dance with the crew or anyone else he might want to. Whatever his plans were, before Lindsey and Patrick inserted me in, he should keep them and not worry about me.

There was one, not so small, problem. I hadn’t asked my parents if I could go. I had so successfully avoided any kind of meaningful conversation with them the last few weeks that the topic didn’t come up. Hell, they didn’t even know the verdict – they never asked about it. I wasn’t going to bring it up. Denial. It was something they were good at. Time was running out and I had to say something or I definitely wouldn’t be allowed to go.

So, at dinner Thursday night, I took a deep breath and every muscle in my body tightened. “The Winter Formal is Saturday.”

“Winter Formal?” My mom looked up from her plate.

“The school dance.” I was trying to gauge her willingness to let me go. “It’s Saturday night.”

“A dance.” She put her fork down.

My dad stared at me curiously. “Where is this dance going to be held?’

I was hoping they wouldn’t ask, but I knew they would. “The Grand Balboa Hotel.”

My mom’s face turned to stone. She was not pleased. “A hotel? Since when do high schools have dances at hotels?”

She just didn’t get how schools were here – part of the generational and cultural gap, I guess. “All the big dances are held at hotels. In their ballrooms. It’s way nicer than the gym. It makes it more special.”

My dad cleared his throat. His voice was even and stern. “I suppose you want to go to this dance.”

I couldn’t stand their eyes peering through me. It always made me feel like I was weak and small, like I was 5 years old or something. I looked down at my plate and pushed the food around. “Yes.”

“No. I don’t want you going to some hotel by yourself. That’s just asking for trouble.” My mom was vehement. They went back to eating their dinner.

“But I wouldn’t be going by myself.” I slowly looked at them.

“So, you have a boyfriend now?” My mom’s voice was loud and sharp. “Is it that boy… the one from your science class?”

“No.” I managed to interject.

“I thought you said he had a girlfriend. So, what? You’re going to this dance with somebody else’s boyfriend? You just go looking for trouble, don’t you?” She shook her head.

I couldn’t believe what she was accusing me of. She really didn’t know me at all. I was mad, but I knew yelling at them would get me nowhere. Now, more than ever, I had to try to control my voice or they’d accuse me of being disrespectful, on top of everything else. Disrespect was a cardinal sin to them.

“His name is Patrick and he’s my friend.” My voice was trembling and I was careful not to raise it. “No, I’m not going to the dance with him. I’m going with Kraig. He’s one of the guys in the group that I hang out with at school. We’re just friends.”

I sat there and watched them. I couldn’t quite tell if they were convinced. They exchanged glances. My dad stood up from the table, grabbed his plate and headed to the kitchen. “We need to meet this boy. Tomorrow.”

“Does this mean I can go?” I was hopeful but I didn’t want to let them know how much I wanted to go.

“If he drives and we meet him. I still don’t like that the dance is at a hotel.” My mom got up. “Finish clearing the table.” She ordered.

I did what I was told. I cleared the table then did the dishes. When I was done, I called Kraig. He was fine with stopping by tomorrow to meet my parents. I warned him of what to expect. Kraig was always easy-going, so he wasn’t too concerned about it. It put me at ease a little, but I was still plenty nervous for the two of us.

* * *

The next night he came over. It was after dinner. I was surprised that my mom had apple pie sliced and ready to serve. I guess they were going to make an effort to be nice. Then again, they were always good at giving the pretense that they were reasonable and nice. I was relieved but I didn’t let my guard down.

The basic pleasantries were exchanged. The conversation revolved around the usual things: school, interests and our plan for the evening. Kraig reiterated my sentiment that it wasn’t a date, just two friends going to the dance together to hang out with everyone else. My dad did ask about his driving record, which was clean – no tickets. My mom insisted that I wasn’t left alone at the dance because ‘you never know what trouble she’d get into’. She made it sound like I was a mischievous little kid who sought out trouble. It was just like when Patrick came over to pick me up for the carnival. I knew what she meant, even though Kraig didn’t. He thought she was just teasing.

Regardless, I had official confirmation from my parents that I could go. I was happy. Most of the crew didn’t have much of curfew for the dance, but I did. My parents set my curfew for 2:00am. That was fine, the dance was over at midnight and it would still give me time to hang out afterwards with everyone. I took what I could get. If I argued that my friends didn’t have a curfew, my parents would say ‘Fine. You don’t have one either. Because you won’t be going.’ I didn’t want that to happen.

25. WINTER FORMAL

Kraig picked me up for the dance and headed to the restaurant for dinner. Usually, if the crew went someplace together, we carpooled. Since this was a dance, and for the couples, it was a
real
date, all the pairs drove separately. We arrived at the restaurant and saw that Bobby and Emily were already there. They sat at one end of the table set for 10. Kraig and I sat across from them.

“So, Liz, when is the Holiday Music Concert?” Bobby asked.

“Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.” I replied.

“Wow! That soon. This month is going by so fast.” Emily was surprised.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” I couldn’t believe it either. I didn’t feel ready for the concert.

Kraig asked, “Is it going to be all Christmas songs?”

“No. Not all, some. We’ll be doing stuff from musicals and non-traditional stuff.” I told them just as Patrick and Becca got to our table.

“Hey, guys.” Patrick said as he sat down next to me, with Becca sitting next to him. Bobby, Emily, Kraig and I greeted them. “You guys talking about Liz’s concert next week?”

“It’s not
my
concert.” I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head.

“But you
are
in it.” Kraig pointed out.

“And you have a couple solos.” Bobby added. Great, the guys were tag-teaming and ganging up on me.

“So… to us, it’s
your
concert.” Emily concluded.

“Exactly!” Patrick exclaimed, pointing to Emily. Jason, Cassie, Tony, and his date Karen sat down at the table. We all exchanged quick hellos and nods. “So, everyone’s going. Right?” Everyone, except Becca and Karen, nodded. Becca would rather go without Patrick for the night than to go.
That’s
how much she didn’t want to go – she’d actually willingly let him out of her sight. As if her not going would be some protest to me singing. As if I cared. Karen, however, was a little lost.

Emily filled in Karen, “Liz is in the choir and they are having a concert next week. She’s good. You should come with! It’ll be fun!”

“Sure. Sounds good.” Karen responded. The crew talked about what night to go to and decided to come to Wednesday’s performance.

Now that everyone had arrived, we started looking through our menus. Some of the crew had eaten here before, so suggestions were asked and given to each other.

Kraig asked me, “What are you getting?”

I closed my menu and told him, “I’m not sure. I’m not very hungry.” Patrick heard me and shot me a look. “But I guess I should eat something, who knows what snacks they might have at the dance.” I reopened my menu to take another look. I decided to get the ravioli with tomato cream sauce that Cassie had recommended.

The server came by and took everyone’s order. While we waited for our food, our conversations drifted to many things from classes and teachers, to music, to the guys’ basketball games, to movies, to the weirdest thing anyone ever ate. We got some looks from nearby customers, since our laughter and voices tended to get loud – after all there were ten of us. When our food arrived, our volume lowered a bit as everyone ate, or attempted to between laughs and stories.

* * *

After dinner, we headed to the Winter Formal, which was being held at the Grand Balboa Hotel ballroom. We all met up again at the hotel’s lobby and headed over to get in line for pictures. Kraig and I had agreed that this wasn’t a
date
date, that we’d do the big group picture of the crew, but wouldn’t do one with just us.

We waited in line for the skyline backdrop. We took several poses – all the girls sitting with the corresponding guy behind us, alternating guy-girl in a single line and then the obligatory goofy picture. Sometimes, it was hard to keep a straight face, or rather a frozen smile, when all I wanted to do was laugh. Partly because I was having fun and partly because Becca really seemed to be going out of her way, even more, to throw herself at Patrick. I could see what he was talking about and why it was bothering him.

When we were done with the group pictures, Kraig and I stepped aside. The others chose their backgrounds and waited. Since we had just taken pictures, the photographers didn’t make them go to the end of the line to wait again. They were allowed to be next up in line.

Kraig and I waited off to the side, closer to the big open hallway that hotels have in their lobby/ballroom areas for the rest of the crew to be done. We talked for a bit before he excused himself to use the restroom. I stayed and watched Patrick and Becca and Bobby and Emily take their pictures. It was like Becca had one thing on her mind and she didn’t care who knew. Patrick, clearly, wasn’t that comfortable with it, tried to subtly get her to stop or back off some. Bobby and Emily were very cute to watch. The photographer posed them very classically for their pictures. I had just noticed Tony and Karen get their turn at a different backdrop when suddenly an arm was wrapped around my waist. I immediately tensed up and tightened my hands into a fist.

“Hey, beautiful.” The voice whispered into my ear. “How about you and I…”

I swung my arm behind me, hitting the guy in the crotch. I turned and just started kicking and punching him. It was like I was on autopilot, not thinking, just reacting. I saw him, this time he wasn’t going to hurt me. I wouldn’t let that happen again. He started to get up. Tears streamed down my face, “No! Don’t touch me. I won’t let you hurt me.”

My arms flew wildly at him with all the strength I had. He was on the ground and trying to get up again, but I wouldn’t let him. “Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!”