The day of the dance came faster than I would've liked.
I was at Melanie's house, and we were trying on outfits to wear that evening.
''What about this?'' Melanie asked, holding up a purple-striped top and skinny black pants to me. ''You would look way killer in that!'' she said, looking at the outfit of choice.
''I don't really care,'' I sighed, as I removed a hair tie from around my wrist and pulled my hair back into a messy bun.
Melanie clicked her tongue and threw both the shirt and pants at me. ''Fine. Whatever. You're wearing that tonight,'' she said, as she rifled through her closet more to find something suitable for herself to wear.
''Hey Mel... Do you think anything will come of the whole.. Josh and Brittany thing?'' I asked, in what I hoped was a non-chalant matter, as I nervously bit the edge of my thumbnail.
Melanie snorted.
''Probably. You know how Brittany is with guys. She likes one, and she won't rest until she's absolutley certain that he likes her back. Then, she grabs him and holds him in her clutches in a relationship, until a new guy comes around and the cycle repeats,'' she said, as she pulled out a pair of black leggings, a green skirt, and a black and green striped top out of her closet.
I didn't say anything.
Melanie looked critically at the items of clothing she had just removed, and shrugged, sighing. ''Whatever. I guess I'll wear this to the dance – not like I've got anyone to impress anyway,'' she remarked, as she headed over to her large vanity.
She came back armed with brushes and makeup – uh oh.
''This is going to be fun,'' she said, smiling sweetly at me as she opened a canister of purple eyeshadow and surveyed my eyelid.
An hour later we were completley dressed and ready. Since we had finally settled on meeting Josh at the dance, [well, -I- had settled, anyway. Josh and Melanie still were miffed at each other over the whole blow out in the cafeteria about Brittany,] Melanie and I got into her mom's car, and she drove us to the school.
We got out of the car at the front entrance of the school, and I was surprised to see just how many people were milling around outside. How the hell were we supposed to find Josh?
But as Melanie thanked her mom, I saw him. He had Brittany on his arm, and her army of preppy clones following them. He looked good in a pale blue dress shirt, and black pants, a fedora on his head. I waved to him, and as he saw me, he unhooked arms with Brittany and walked towards me and Melanie.
Melanie had her arms crossed across her chest and a sour expression on her face as he walked over.
He chose to ignore it.
''Hey Hayley-Berry, you look great,'' he said, smiling, as he gave me a hug.
It wasn't hard to miss Brittany's jealous glare at me over his shoulder.
We pulled apart, and I felt my face flush. ''Thanks Josh,'' I whispered, awkwardly bringing my hand up to my hair, smoothing it back.
Brittany of course, had to completley ruin the moment.
''JOSHIEEE. Let's go insidee!!'' she squealed, as she ran up to him, grabbing his arm tightly, and pouting slightly.
She was dressed in a ridiculously short bright pink dress with frills amoung the sides, and matching kitten heels.
It was quite possibly the most ridiculous get-up I had ever seen.
Again, Josh was oblivious. He looked at me apologetically, ''I'll see you later, yeah? Don't forget about the dance that I promised you,'' he said, as Brittany tugged him away. As they left, I heard an angry growl of ''WHAT dance?!'' coming from Brittany. It was enough to warrant a bit of a smirk from Melanie.
''Jealous bitch,'' she commented, shaking her head, the bit of a smirk still on her face. ''Let's go inside,'' she said, a moment later, as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the school.
The dance wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Melanie and I danced together throughout most of the songs, and totally went wild when they played a bit of Nirvana, jumping around and flailing our heads crazily.
The others around us scowled at us angrily and muttered about how 'totally immature' we were being. It didn't matter the least bit to us. We were having a good time, and we weren't gonna let anyone ruin that.
I saw Josh only twice since the outside encounter at the beginning of the evening.
The first time, he had been over by the punch bowl, sipping some of the fruit-punch flavoured juice, while Brittany had been at the bathroom. I had walked over and we had talked a little bit, until Brittany had come back, and pulled him away from me to go out onto the dance floor.
The second time was outside.
I had gone outside to get a bit of fresh air, as the inside of the gym was becoming increasingly stuffy and hot with every song I danced to. With my shoes in hand, I walked over to the far side of the school's southern courtyard, and saw a couple of shadows in the dark.
Most of them were people who, like me, were taking a break from the stuffy atmosphere inside the gym.
Two of them were not.
Josh and Brittany sat on the bench closest to the bushes, and even though I could only see their silhouettes, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
They were kissing.
His arms were around her waist, gently touching the small of her back, and her lips were pressed against his, her arms around his neck.
I stopped in my tracks and stared at them for a split second, unbelieving of what I saw.
And then I ran.
I didn't really know where I was going, but the only thing that was clear in my mind was that I needed to get away from the courtyard. The entire school. Right now.
That, and my feet hurt, pounding against the cold cement.
I paused for a moment to put my shoes back onto my feet, and continued running.
Soon enough, I was at the familiar intersection that led to my house, and the Farros' house. I ran past Zac & Josh's house, and felt tears starting to pool in the corners of my eyes.
Thankfully, my parents weren't home, and I had thought enough to stuff my keys into the pocket of Melanie's skinny pants before leaving the house, so I opened the door and let myself in.
