Authors: Sabrina Sumsion
“What did he say?” Dierdre asked.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“Can I die now?” Lacy asked from behind her fingers.
David held up his hands to quiet us down. He looked at Lacy. “Hey, you can put your hands down.”
Lacy peeked out.
“I asked him if there was any one at this table that he would say no to if she asked him to Sadie Hawkins.”
“What did he say?” Dierdre asked.
“He said yes.”
“What?” Jamie asked. Lacy appeared as if she would cry.
“He said he wouldn’t go with Jen ‘
cause she’s too tall.”
I punched him in the arm. “Hey!”
“Seriously. Some guys are uncomfortable around taller girls. I don’t get it, but to each their own.”
My heart fluttered. He didn’t care I was tall enough to play center in basketball. Oh true love.
“What did he say about the rest of us?” Jamie asked.
“He said that all of you would be pleasant company, but he thought he and Lacy here could have a lot to talk about.” He smiled.
Lacy smiled. “Really?”
David nodded.
“So how are you going to ask him?” Jamie asked.
“I have no idea,” Lacy answered.
“So what about you, Jen?”
The question startled me. I looked into David’s blue eyes and discovered my tongue had become paralyzed. I finally spit out, “huh?”
“Do you have your eye on anyone in particular?” He asked.
“Well, I …” What would I say next? I considered being coy and answering I had my eye on someone. I could also lie and said I hadn’t thought about it. Mainly, his words to just ask kept bouncing around in my brain. Could he be right? Was it best to be direct? I decided to bite the bullet.
“I thought it might be fun if we went to the dance together,” I blurted.
Not really. I wish I’d opened my mouth and asked.
The only problem? Before I could choke out anything, the self-elected queen of our school decided to walk up and ruin my moment. Her highness Selena Franklin, flanked on each side by a cheerleader flunky, stood across the table from me. She and her whole crew wore their skimpy uniforms.
“Hey Davey,” she purred.
“Hi Selena,” he answered. Was it me or was he less enthusiastic than most guys when approached by royalty?
“I’m excited for the pep rally later.”
Have I failed to mention besides being a pimped out tank, in real life David starts for the school’s basketball team? -Pretty sure I left that detail out. He was the reason I was always ready for a pickup game. It gave me an excuse to be close to him without being weird.
“Yeah.
Me, too.” David wiped his mouth with a napkin, crumpled it and tossed it on his empty tray.
An awkward silence fell. Selena took the moment time to inspect each of us. I could almost see the checklist running through her head.
Hair? Less than. Make up? Sloppy. Outfit? Horrible. We were measured and found unworthy.
“So, Sadie Hawkins is coming up. I hope no one has asked you yet,” Selena said.
“Not yet.” David sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.
Selena flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Good. Hey, I have some questions about the test we have in Home Economics. Come sit
with us and go over it with me.”
He took a deep breath and glanced at me. I stared at him.
“Yeah. Be right there.”
My mouth dropped. She basically asked him to the dance.
Right in front of me. I didn’t stand a chance.
“I don’t know why she asks a guy about cooking stuff, but whatever.” David stood.
He dumped his tray of empty wrappers, dropped it off by the kitchen, then sauntered over to the table full of perfectly primped girls. I turned away as he sat in the seat Selena pulled out for him next to her.
“He’s not in to her,” Jamie said.
“She’s such a pain,” Dierdre glanced towards where David was sitting then rolled her eyes. “You totally had your opening and she ruined it.”
“She didn’t ruin anything. He’s going to go with her. End of story,” I slouched down in my seat. Hot tears pricked at my eyes. I was mad at Selena for being so perfect and mad at
myself for thinking a guy like David would be interested in me.
“You don’t know that. It’s not like he jumped up, left behind his trash and followed her like a puppy,” Lacy said.
“Lacy’s right! Besides, no guy in his right mind would go for her over you. At least you’re not fake,” Dierdre said.
“Yeah, well, I can always go stag.” I swiped at crumbs on the table. I imagined Selena’s face in the design on the table and tried to rub it out.
“We can be each other’s dates,” Jamie said.
“Okay!” I said happily as I hooked arms with her.
Good friends really do make the world a better place.
***
Later in the week, I spotted Lacy walking up to the school way before first period. I was there early every day since my older sister dropped me off before her 8AM chemistry class at the local college. It was unusual for Lacy to be there early –especially since trailing behind her were several balloons intent on escaping her hands in the obnoxious spring wind.
I ran up to her. “What’s up?”
“I decided how I’m going to ask Greg”
“Oh yeah?
How’s that?”
“I wrote part of the invitation on slips of paper and put them in each balloon.”
I then noticed the “Pop Me” message written with permanent marker on each balloon. I smiled. This was perfect for her. It spoke exactly to her personality. Simple. Efficient. Tons of fun!
“I hope the office will tell me who each of his teachers are. I didn’t think about it until this morning. I only know his 4
th
period.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make them tell you. Or create a diversion so you can go look at the records!”
We both laughed as we rushed down the hall to the keeper of the records. The stars were in our favor. The secretary broke out into a huge smile as Lacy explained what she wanted.
“No problem.” The white-haired lady rummaged through her desk for a slip of paper and a pen. She scribbled a list then handed it to Lacy. “I hope he says yes.”
“Me too,” said Lacy. “Thank you so much!” She held the paper to her chest and we left the office quickly.
“Where to first?”
I peeked over Lacy’s shoulder to read the list.
After scanning the paper, she declared, “The computer lab.
Advanced programming.” She smiled. “I’m impressed.”
“Yeah, yeah.
You can drool all over his brains at the dance. Right now we have to get these balloons dropped off.”
We half ran, half walked from classroom to classroom. As we passed
groups of students arriving for the day, many appeared curious. Others called after us, asking who the lucky guy was.
The last class was in the gym. The plan was to leave the balloons with each teacher. Unfortunately, in gym, the teacher’s office was in the locker room. We couldn’t go into the boy’s changing room and drop the balloon off. First, just walking by the door you could smell the stench of pubescent boys.
Ew! Second, we didn’t know if someone was showering. Walking in on that? Awkward! We decided to split up and find a male teacher to deliver it for us.
I scurried over to the weight lifting rooms. In my early morning wandering, I knew several boys and teachers worked out before school. I
poked my head in, didn’t see a teacher and started to turn around before I did a double take. He was in here. My object of desire. The most perfect guy ever.
!
David’s back was towards me. I leaned against the doorway and watched him as he curled some weights. He wore a muscle shirt that, sure enough, proved his were there and abundant. I watched the muscles in his side and arms flex and relax. My knees felt like jelly. I knew he was a whole person and looks alone shouldn’t be what a person admired. Unfortunately, my eyes refused to look away.
Then I noticed the mirror. I looked at him in the mirror and our eyes met. Busted! I looked at myself and noticed my mouth was open. When did that happen? I snapped it shut. He grinned. If he hadn’t been watching me, I would have run away.
“Morning,” he called.
“Hey,” Gah! My brain stopped working again. Why couldn’t I be smooth and think of coy responses like other girls?
He dropped the weights and walked over to me.
“Whatcha doin’?”
“Looking for the gym teacher.”
“Are you sure you weren’t looking for my guns?” He flexed his arms and kissed one of his biceps.
They were lovely muscles. I couldn’t let on I liked them so much. My brain lurched into gear.
“No. And if those are your only weapons, you should look at upgrading from compacts,” I retorted.
He laughed. “These babies are awesome and you know it,”
I shrugged.” I’ve seen better.”
He rolled his eyes. He stepped closer. “I know what you’re really after.”
The nearness of him unnerved me. We’d been this close before, but never alone. The only time we’d entered each other’s bubble of personal space was on the court or sitting next to each other at lunch.
“What?” My voice was betrayed me like my wobbly knees.
“You want a hug!” He held his arms out. That’s when I noticed his sweat stains. I put my hand out to keep him away and my palm felt the sogginess of his shirt. Even the chance to touch his hard chest couldn’t overcome the grossness of his sweat everywhere.
“Yuck!” I tried to step away. He followed my backtracking.
“Come on. One nice, big hug. You know, hugging is good for the soul!” He laughed manically.
“That is so gross!”
“Everyone okay here?” a voice called from behind me. I whirled around quickly. My cheeks started to burn, although I wasn’t sure why. Mr. Stenson, the tall, burly gym teacher stood down the hall. Dwarfed by his bulk, Lacy stood next to him, looking like a child with the balloon in one hand and her other hand covering her mouth. The crinkle around her eyes revealed her amusement.
“Fine.”
I hopped into the hallway.
David peeked out of the doorway. “Hey, Mr. S.”
“Hit the showers Stauffer. First period starts in fifteen.”
“Yes, sir.”
David stepped past me and jogged down the hall.
Mr. Stenson shook his head and grinned as David slipped past. David glanced up at Lacy’s balloon and cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t miss a pace. I followed his path at a walk, stopping at Lacy’s side.
“Okay Lacy, what did you need?”
“Could you give this balloon to Greg in your last period?” She held the balloon out.
He looked at her with confusion apparent on his face. Then he smiled. “Ah, asking Greg to Sadie Hawkins?”
She nodded her head.
“He’s a good choice.”
Lacy blushed.
He looked at me. “Stauffer is an alright choice as well.”
It was my turn to blush.
“Um, yeah. I suppose.”
“You ladies have a nice day, and I’ll be sure to give this to Greg.” He walked towards the boy’s locker room.
We looked at each other. Mission completed! Now the wait was on for the results.
***
“So?” I asked as Lacy walked up to the table at lunch time.
“What?” Her sly grin revealed she had something to share.
“What happened in class?” Jamie asked, as excited as I to find out what Lacy knew.
Lacy put the tray on the table and leaned in. “So, in class the teacher gave him the balloon and luckily, didn’t give away who gave
it to him. He popped it and the paper flew across the room and ended up in Karen’s hair. She pulled it out and by this time the whole class was watching. He got it from her and opened it. He smiled and returned to his seat. Then everyone started asking him what it said. He started blushing then finally handed it to Eric Longstein. Eric stood up and read it out loud. It said, ‘the dance’. Eric then got all indignant and asked what that meant. Greg shrugged. Then Kendra said, ‘He’s getting asked to Sadie Hawkins. He had another balloon in second period that said “you”.’ Eric bugged him to tell who was asking him, but Greg shrugged and said he didn’t know. It took everything in me not to giggle or blush or give away I knew anything about it.”
“That’s so cool!” Dierdre sat down next to me. “Did Eric mention if he’s been asked?”
‘Not likely!” I said. “He’s such a pain.”
“Yeah.
I was curious.”
Jamie flopped down at the table. Her frown signaled something bad had happened.
“What’s up?” Dierdre asked.
She glared. “I could kill her.”
We all leaned in to get the scoop.
She hit a few times on the screen of her smart phone and swiped her finger a few times then held out the phone for us to see. She was on her Facebook account. There was a picture on her wall of a vandalized car. When I looked closer, I noticed it wasn’t vandalism so much as decorated. In some sort of cream, the windows said, “Will you go to Sadie Hawkins with me? -Selena” I felt my lip curl into a sneer.