Something Ends, Another Begins

I pulled up in front of Christie's house and rushed to her door. After knocking a couple of times and ringing the doorbell, she opened the door. "Hey, Chris, what's up? You told me to rush over here and said it was urgent."

"Okay, come with me, Ali. There's something I need to show you." Christie grabbed my arm and pulled me upstairs to her bedroom.

She gestured toward a dress that was lying perfectly on her bed. The dress was a pretty light green color, strapless, looked like it went just above the knees, and had a big black bow on the side of the waistline. "Wow, that's a nice dress," I said, wondering why she was showing it to me.

"It's yours," Christie said with a wide smile and rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet, kind of like an excited little girl.

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.

"This is your Homecoming dress. I bought it for you since you're coming tonight."

I put my hands up and said, "Whoa, slow down, Christie. Not once did I say I was going to Homecoming tonight. Also, there's no way I can accept this dress; it must have cost a lot."

"Ali, come on. First of all, do not worry about how much the dress costs. I bought it for you and I want you to have it. Second of all, I would really like it if you came tonight. Think of it as kind of a compromise. I bought you the dress and the only way you can repay me is if you come tonight."

I sat down on Christie's bed. "Chris, it's like I told you before, I'm comfortable staying at home. I don't mind. Besides, even if I did go tonight, what exactly am I going to be doing without a date?"

Christie's smile became wider. "Okay, don't be mad at me, but I may have kind of talked about this with my date, Alex, and he has a friend that's into you. His name is Rick and he'll be going to Homecoming tonight. If you came too, you guys could maybe talk and stuff."

"Christie, you practically set me up!"

"I did not! I'm not saying you should hook up with him or anything. I'm just saying this is a great opportunity to go out and meet some new people. I mean, when during these past two months did you really go out and spend some time with friends?"

I thought something would immediately come out of my mouth but instead, I just sat there trying to come up with an answer.

"Exactly," Christie said, "Which is why I'm asking you please go out and have some fun tonight." She actually got on her knees, practically begging.

I took what she said in consideration. She was right: for the past two months, I just found myself staying at home doing homework, watching TV, eating, and/or being on my laptop. If I wasn't at school, I was at home, and I never noticed it until now. Last year, I would go out with my friends whenever I got the chance.

I didn't want to be isolated from having fun forever. Which is why I told Christie, "Okay, I'll go."

***

Christie left me by the food stand so she could go get this Rick guy. I looked at everyone dancing on the dance floor (mostly couples) and slowly started to think that this wasn't the best idea. Yesterday, I thought that tonight, I would be sitting at home having a romance-comedy movie marathon with pizza and soda. Instead, I came to the dance I repeatedly told myself not to go to.

"Hey," I heard someone say to my right.

I turned and saw a certain someone slowly walking towards me wearing a really nice tux. "Hey, Cameron," I replied.

We were a good distance apart when he said, "I thought you weren't going to come." I noticed how his lip ring glistened under the light.

"Well, originally I wasn't but I realized I needed a night out."

"Oh," he said, "You look, um, really...amazing."

I found myself smiling and reached to cover my cheeks which were getting warm before I realized the cafeteria was too dark for him to notice. I thought of how Christie spent about an hour and a half curling my hair and putting on my makeup. "Thank you," I replied and he nodded, smiling.

"Are you here with anyone?" He suddenly asked.

"Well, Christie's been talking about this guy who she says is into me or something. She just left to get him."

"Oh," was all Cameron said.

"What about you? Where's your date?" There was no way Cameron Reeves would be here without a girl on his arm.

He started to rub the back of his neck. "Uh, I did have a date but she called a few hours ago and cancelled, saying she had the stomach flu or something."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You came anyway?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, I didn't want to stay stuck at home all night and figured I should just come anyway." I figured he would find some way to get another date, but I didn't mention anything.

"Ali," I heard someone call out.

I turned and saw Christie waving excitedly with her arm linked with her date's and another guy walking next to them. The guy was pretty tall, had short dark hair, and a five o' clock shadow. I took a lucky guess that the guy is Rick.

"Ali Pearson, this is Rick Matthews, Rick this is my friend Ali," Christie introduced as she pulled on my arm a little so I could move towards him.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey," Rick replied and I saw his eyes scan me up and down.

"Okay," Christie said, "We'll go and let you two talk." She grabbed her date's hand and led him to the dance floor.

After they left, Rick and I just stood awkwardly until I heard Cameron say beside me, "Ali, I'll see you later."

I figured he would have left earlier. The only thing I could say was, "Okay."

About a second after Cameron left, I felt Rick grab a hold of my hand. I subconsciously flinch and wanted to pull my hand away but I figured he just grabbed my hand to get my attention. "Do you want to dance?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, of course."

***

A few hours later, I found myself and Rick walking out of the cafeteria towards the parking lot. Right before a slow song came on, I told Rick that I was ready to go home. I intended to wait for Christie since she was my ride but Rick insisted that he drive me home. To be honest, Rick is an okay guy, but I definitely do not see myself going out with him. Not just because I don't see myself going out with anyone for a long time but also because he just seems as if he likes to rush into things quickly.

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Rick asked me, grabbing a hold of my waist and slowly pulling me towards him. This time, I did pull away.

"Yes," was all I said. It's not like he needed an explanation.

"Well, I was just asking because I figured you might like to go to my place."

"Excuse me?" I stopped and turned to face him.

"You know, I have a hot tub, forty inch flat screen, and a king size bed." He grinned and wrapped his arms around my waist.

I ripped his arms away before saying, "That's nice but I really just want to go home, please."

"Oh come on, Ali. You don't have to pretend that you're not into me."

"I'm not into you. And, right now, you're just making it worse." I started to realize that my voice was getting a little louder.

He actually started to laugh. "Alright come down, now. I just thought you would need a night of fun." I saw him lean closer to my face and I started to panic.

"Hey!" I heard before anything else had happened. I turned and sighed of relief when I saw Cameron walking our way. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Hey, what's up, Cam?" Rick sounded so casual.

"I believe she said she wanted to go home," Cameron said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You know, Cam, this really isn't any of your business."

"My friend here just told you plenty of times that she wants to go home and you're not doing anything but practically pressuring her to go home with you."

Rick rolled his eyes and I could tell he was getting frustrated. "Fine, fine, I'll take her home." He reached for my forearm.

However, I felt Cameron's arm reach across my shoulders. "No, I will. You just run along and find some other girl you can have a good time with."

Cameron and I turned before Rick can react but not too long after that, I heard Rick walk away. I sighed and faced Cameron. "Thank you," I said.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I almost felt like laughing because of how serious his face expression was.

"Yes, Cameron, I'm fine." His face relaxed a little, but not much. "I'm just slowly regretting coming here tonight. I thought I would have at least a little fun, but I didn't."

"Why didn't you just stay home like you planned?"

"Well, Christie told me how I haven't really been out and had fun for a while and I guess she thought that going to this dance would be like a break for me and I would have a good time but, it didn't turn out that way."

It was silent for awhile before Cameron said, "I bet it would be different if Josh were here, huh?"

I nodded and looked down. "Yeah, it would. I know I would be a lot happier than I am now."

"So," Cameron said after a few seconds. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

I looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, please."

He smiled and jerked his head to the parking lot. "Okay, come on." He started walking and I followed him to his car.