I stood at the back of the crowded room, watching all the people crowded around me. It was way too hot in the room, with all the bodies packed in. I couldn’t even tell if half the people around were dancing. They were just doing that bouncing-up-and-down thing that people do at dances and clubs, a few people with their hands in the air.
“Hey! Isn’t this great?” I heard a voice call from beside me. I turned to see my friend Henry Thompson heading my way. He had a drink in his hand, but there were so many people in the room that by the time he got to me, most of the liquid inside had spilled out.
“‘Great’ isn’t exactly the word I would use,” I replied.
“Aw, come on!” Henry exclaimed over the roar of the crowd. “Quit being such a downer!”
“It’s way to loud in here!” I argued back. “I can barely hear you!”
“Don’t be such a buzzkill, Luke!”
“Why shouldn’t I be?” I argued feebly. “I’m grounded for like a month, I can’t even watch a single episode of anything, and my siblings practically treat me like garbage.”
Henry started to grin. “I have a reason.”
“And what would that be?”
“Kelly’s here.”
I started to smile. Kelly Smithson and I had been friends since second grade, and I had had a crush on her pretty much since then. Henry was such a loud-mouth that I was surprised that she didn’t know yet.
“Where is she?” I asked, a renewed determination in my voice.
“She’s over by the drinks,” Henry said, keeping the grin on his face.
I made my way over to the drinks (nearly trampled to death on the way; my dark mood was threatening to resurface), and as soon as I saw her, my mood started to brighten even more.
She stood with a few of her friends in a pink dress, her auburn hair framing her freckled face. She had green eyes, and pure white teeth. Her dress came to about her knees, and left her shoulders exposed.
I straightened up before marching over to her. As soon as she saw me, she smiled and waved me over.
“Hey, Luke!” she exclaimed once I was in shouting distance (which wasn’t that far in the loud room). Even when she shouted she sounded
“Hey, Kelly!” I called back.
“How have you been? I haven’t seen you in forever!” she asked enthusiastically.
“Sorry, I’ve been grounded,” I said sheepishly.
“Aw, that’s too bad. What did you do?”
I hesitated. “Well,” I started finally, “I haven’t really cleaned my room in a while.”
“You’ve been grounded for almost a month, all because you haven’t cleaned your room?” she asked, doubtful.
“Apparently, you haven’t seen my room.”
“I still find that hard to believe.”
“I don’t blame you.”
We sat in silence for about a moment or two. Her friends started talking amongst themselves, glancing back every once in awhile.
“So, what’s new with you?” I said, breaking the silence.
“Oh, nothing really,” she said casually.
“Come on,” I pestered. “We haven’t talked for almost a month. How could nothing be going on?”
“Well, there is one thing,” she said with a grin.
“What is it?” I questioned.
“It’s nothing really.”
“Oh come on,” I said with a grin. “You can’t tell me something like that and then leave me off like this!”
“Ok, here I go. I have a date on Saturday.”
