7th Grade Social

About halfway through March, announcements started over the intercom, telling of the 7th grade social that would be held on April 2nd. I was excited. It was a dance, and I was a huge dancer. I loved dancing. I knew Jess would be going; she was just as excited as I was. However, there were two other people I wanted to attend as well: Mike and Brendan. Neither of them were too keen on the idea. But me, being the pushy friend that I was, tried to convice them both to go.
    Brendan was the one who eventually caved in. It happened at lunch one day. As Mike, Brendan and I sat down at our usual table, Mike picked up one of the flyers that he said were "littering" the school. It was two days before the social. "Are they seriously still advertising the goddamn dance?" he asked incredulously to no one in particular.
    I shrugged. "You guys should go." Brendan said nothing but Mike shook his head. "Oh come on, it'll be fun."
    "No it won't," Mike responded.
    I turned to Brendan. Over the couple of months we'd become friends, my crush on him had developed. Some days I was so sure he liked me too, but other days, I couldn't really tell. Jessica noticed this as well and was always trying to divert my attention to someone else. It hadn't worked. Now, as I looked at him, a sad look plastered on my face, I was leaning toward him liking me. "Brendan, please? Will you go? I'll be so bored if you don't."
    "Isn't Jessica going? And Tiffany? And Alyssa and Sarah?" he asked. He didn't immediately say no, as Mike had, so I thought there was hope. At the moment, he was simply scrambling for excuses.
    "Well yeah, but I mean, I can't dance with them to slow songs. I need someone to flirt with."
    This brought a blush to his face, something that did not go unnoticed with Jessica, who was just sitting down. Mike got up and walked into the lunch line. Since they'd broken up, Mike and Jessica did not in any way get along, and tried to keep any exposure to each other to a minimum. I was sure that if they weren't both my best friends, they would have shouting matches every day. They didn't fight for my sake. "Why is Brendan blushing?" she asked, taking a small bite out of the food on her tray.
    "I told him I was gonna flirt with him at the social. If he goes," I said.
    "Oh, I thought it was because Lisa was staring at him." Jessica shrugged and nodded absentmindedly to the table near ours. I followed her quick glance. Lisa Danforth, a girl I was friendly with, was in fact staring at him.
    The green monster came out in me and I shot her a dirty look. Her faced flushed red, clashing with her white-blonde hair and she looked away, studying some random floor tile. "No. She isn't." I looked at Brendan, trying to see if he had caught her looking at him. He wasn't looking up, but there was a smile tugging slightly on the corner of his mouth. I stood up. "I'll be back."
    I walked into the girl's room, fighting the tears that were welling up. I closed my eyes tightly and sat down on the ground for a moment until I was sure I could open them again without crying. On the one hand, I was glad. Brendan didn't like Jessica, despite all of her efforts to flirt with him. On the other hand, he liked Lisa Danforth. And though I didn't really have anything personal against her, I wanted her to transfer schools so no one would see her again. After sitting on the floor for about five minutes and sorting through my thoughts, I walked out and sat back down in my seat at the table. Mike and Jessica were arguing, as they usually were.
    Brendan looked up at me and smiled. I grinned back as convincingly as I could. It was well worth the effort. He lowered his voice, glancing quickly at Mike and said, "I'll be at the social. Don't worry. You'll have someone to flirt with."
    That brought a true smile to my face and I hugged Brendan tightly. "Thank you, Iverson." That was the nickname I'd appointed to him. His favorite basketball player was Allen Iverson and he wore a sweatshirt with the name 'Iverson' sewn onto the back. Hence the nickname.
    Two days later, a Friday, I was just waking up from a nap when I looked at the clock. It read 6:30. The dance started at 7:00, and it took a good 20 minutes to get to the school. I bolted up. "S**t!" I yelled. My mom heard me and shouted back, "Watch your language!"
    I ran quickly around my room, scrambling to find a decent outfit for the dance. I finally settled on a pair of simple tight blue jeans with a pattern decorating up the sides of each leg. I threw on a loose white belt and a white sleeveless shirt. It was a warm evening and for that, I was thankful. I left my hair down, but grabbed a hair elastic as I ran out to meet my mom, knowing it would be in a ponytail by the end of the night.
    When I got to the school, I shouted goodbye to my mother and walked in. Once inside, I scanned my surroundings, trying to find someone I knew. I saw Jessica and Brendan standing off to the side and waved. Jessica's face flashed annoyance for a second, but it didn't bother me in the least. For when Brendan saw me, his jaw dropped and he started walking over. "Cassi, you look awesome!"
    I didn't think I looked any different than I did at school. Sure, I wore a shirt that I'd never been able to wear to school before due to the neckline and the straps, and I wore a bit of make-up, but I was still me. I took the compliment anyway. "Thanks, Brendan. I'm glad you showed up."
    "I said I would, didn't I?" He smiled warmly and grabbed my hand. His touch caused my stomach to start flipping, and I threw my arm across my stomach to calm it down a little. It was in vain. My heart started fluttering when my stomach calmed down. I gave up and breathed out quickly.
    Jessica threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly, causing Brendan to release my hand, which I was sure had been her intention. I hugged her back just as tightly, though, not caring. Brendan thought I looked great. Brendan came tonight for me, not Lisa and not Jessica. This night was starting off as one of those nights that I thought he liked me.
    We all walked into the cafeteria. The music was already pounding loudly. The middle of the room was empty, with a DJ set up at the front. Along the side wall, across from where we entered, there was a long table filled with ice cream, hot fudge and a number of other assorted ice cream sundae toppings. There were strobe lights everywhere, changing my white shirt from white, to red to green to blue and back to white again. I smiled. "Cassi!" I heard, someone shouting from across the loud room. I looked up and saw my friend, Tiffany Berndt waving widely. Dragging Jess and Brendan with me, I walked over to her. Sarah Young, Alyssa Inglese and, to my despair, Lisa Danforth stood by her. Lisa was talking to Sarah, but brightened up when she saw Brendan. Her face then flushed red again when she saw me standing beside him. Tiffany stepped forward and hugged me. "Hey! Hot date!" She nodded toward Brendan, a knowing smile dancing on her face and an inconspicuous wink in my direction. She knew how I felt about him.
    "I know. I don't know how I got so lucky." Giggling, I threw my arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek, hoping the display of affection wouldn't upset him. He grinned at me and rolled his eyes before shrugging out from underneath my arm and sitting at one of the tables. "Let's dance!" I said to everyone. We all started walking onto the floor, not afraid to be the first ones out there. I turned and looked at Brendan, who stayed seated. "You coming?"
    He shook his head. "I don't dance." I laughed and ran after my friends.
    After about a half hour, a slow song started playing, and Jessica ran over to Brendan. I couldn't hear the words, but I knew what she was asking. I was about to get really angry when I saw him shake his head. She smiled and hit his arm and he shook his head again. I walked over, confident, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up and onto the dance floor. Once there, I put my arms around his neck and he placed his hands on my lower back. "I thought you didn't dance," I said lightly.
    "I don't. I made an exception for you because you look amazing tonight. Besides, I want you to have fun."
    "Are you saying you're not having fun?"
    "Of course I am." He smiled lopsidely. Off the the side and behind my head, Jessica was whispering in Nick Lorden's ear. Suddenly they were behind us, dancing. Brendan looked at me. "Don't get mad, but I think Jess is stealing your man." His smiled faltered a bit.
    I turned around. The sight of Nick and Jessica made me angry, but I shrugged. "I don't care. I've got you."
    "She seemed pretty pissed when I wouldn't dance with her."
    "Haha, she'll live."
    I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Jessica. "Can we cut in?" she asked, laughing.
    Now I had the opportunity to dance with Nick Lorden, someone I'd had a crush on since the beginning of the year. I looked at Brendan, wanting to see his reaction. He shrugged, giving me the choice. "Sure," I replied.
    Satisfied, Jessica switched partners with me. Her eyes sparkled as she held Brendan close to her. A bit happy myself, I started dancing with Nick. "So...," I started, not sure what to say. Jessica had been right when she first met Brendan. I was too shy to talk to him. And now that I was practically being forced, I didn't know what to say.
    "So," he replied. "Can I say something without offending you? Or hurting your feelings?"
    "Um," I faltered. Strange way to start a conversation. "Sure."
    He sighed. "I like you, don't get me wrong. You're really pretty and you're nice and everything, but I don't really want to date anyone right now. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have asked you to dance tonight either, on my own terms."
    I shrugged. "Okay. No problem." I wasn't too broken up by the news. For the most part, my mind had been focused on Brendan lately, and not Nick. "Now can I ask you something?" He nodded. "If you like me and you weren't gonna ask me to dance, why did you dance with Jessica, a girl you can barely stand to be around?" Jessica and Nick had never gotten along.
    He laughed a little, more relaxed now that we'd passed through the awkwardness. "She really wanted to dance with that Brendan kid. And she said that if you saw me and her dancing, you'd get jealous, because she knew you liked me. Then if she asked to cut in, you would. And she'd get to dance with Brendan. I thought it was a dumb idea, personally, because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. But now I'm slightly amused, because she's throwing herself at him and he can't keep his eyes off of you." I looked at Nick weirdly. He quickly spun us and I was now facing the direction that had previously been behind me. "See?" He was right. Brendan was looking at Jessica, then his eyes shifted to me and away and back to me again. She was holding onto him tightly.
    I giggled, more at Jess's failure than at Brendan's discomfort. I felt a little bad for him for that. Nick and I finished the rest of the song, talking lightly and happily, as if we'd been friends for years. When the song was over, I hugged him and thanked him for being honest with me. Then I started over to Jessica, ready to yell at her for being so devious. But the look on her face made me stop. She was biting her bottom lip and staring down. Something she only did when she was nervous. "Jess, what's wrong?" I asked, forgetting how mad I'd been.
    "I don't want to tell you. You'll get mad at me," she responded immediately. She looked up, but she wouldn't make eye contact with me.
    "No I won't. I promise. Just tell me." I grabbed her arm and she looked up, eyes locking with mine. "What happened?"
    She sighed deeply and then led me off to the side, where it was quieter. I snuck a quick glance at Brendan. He was staring down at the floor, sitting again, and he looked upset. When we were in a quieter area, Jessica started talking. "I know Nick told you why I had him dance with me. But I thought you've liked him for so long, I thought you'd want to dance with him. I'm sorry for doing that. But...," she sighed again. "This is the hard part. See, while Brendan and I were dancing, I asked him how he felt about you. I thought it was only fair, because you did that for me with Mike. And he said he likes you, but only as a friend. And he didn't mean to be leading you on lately, but he didn't know how to say no. And--this is the part I think you'll hate me for--he said that he likes me. But I told him I couldn't do that to you."
    I looked her in the eyes. I was no longer mad at her, but at Brendan. Even though my gut instinct was telling me not to believe her, that she was lying, my brain wouldn't listen. In my mind, Jessica was more experienced in dating. I'd only had two boyfriends, both relationships lasting a very short amount of time. There had been little to no physical contact in both, too. So when Jessica told me Brendan didn't like me, I believed her. Every word. Furious, I stormed away and glared at Brendan, who was standing up. He walked over to me and I walked right onto the dance floor. I grabbed the first guy I saw and started dancing with him, keeping a good foot between our bodies. I couldn't identify him right away, and that made me a little uneasy, but once again, I ignored my better instincts and kept dancing. The stranger placed his hands on my waist and went to pull me closer. I slapped his hands away. "Watch it," I snapped. He stopped immediately, then shrugged and kept dancing. I noticed him closing the gap between us little by little, until we were a mere five inches or so apart. I didn't pay much mind to that fact because he didn't touch me, so it was okay. But then he put his hands around my waist again and once more tried to pull me closer. I squirmed away from him. "Knock it off!" I shouted over the music.
    "Come on, baby, loosen up a little. I'm just trying to have some fun." I rolled my eyes and turned around, dancing with no one now. Suddenly his arms were wrapped around me tightly and his voice was right in my ear. "Chill out, okay. Just have fun." He squeezed my stomach tightly. It hurt. My eyes crunched together tightly in pain.
    "Let her go," I heard. I looked up. Brendan stood in front of me, glaring behind me at the person behind me, whose identity I was still unsure of.
    The hands let go and there was a frustrated sigh. I let out my breath and looked at Brendan. I wanted to be mad at him, but he'd just gotten some creep to back off of me. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him off to the side, where Jessica and I had been talking about him just moments before. "Thank you, Brendan, first of all. Second of all, why the f**k have you been leading me on?"
    He looked at me, shock lit up on his face. "What are you talking about?"
    "Jessica told me that you said you didn't like me as anything more than a friend but you didn't know how to tell me that. So you flirted with me with no intention of ever dating me. And that you like her."
    His eyes got wide. "Every word of that is bullshit. She asked me if I liked you and I said yes. Then she told me that you didn't like me as anything more than a friend. And that I should just date Lisa Danforth. I never said any of that. Cassi, is that why you got so mad?" I nodded. He laughed. "Well don't worry. I'm not dating anyone for a while. I have some things to sort out and I can't let anyone else get involved. But if I was dating, trust me, you're the first one on my list."
    I smiled. I was still angry, but now it was directed at Jessica again. Grabbing Brendan's hand again, I pulled him onto the dance floor and started dancing with him. He stood there self-consciously for half the song before he started to relax and followed my moves. He's a pretty good dancer when he tries, I thought. The rest of the night passed too fast. I didn't see Jess again; I assumed she went home early. Tiffany, Sarah and a few other people asked me if Brendan and I were dating. I said to all of them, "No, we're just best friends."
    "Thank you, everyone!" the DJ shouted into the mic. "That was our last song for the evening. I hope you all have a great night. Drive safely." The lights started turning back on and everyone began exiting the cafeteria.
    Throwing my arm around Brendan's neck in a friendly fashion, I followed the crowd. I was giggling and I felt very heated. I almost seemed high or drunk, but in reality, I was simply floating on air. The outside wind slapped me in the face and brought me back down to earth. I looked at Brendan, who was looking at me with a perplexed look on his face. He kissed me on the cheek. "I had a great time tonight, Cassi. Thanks. I'll see you in school on Monday." He hugged me tightly and walked off. I staggered a bit as I walked to my mother's car. And as she drove away, I turned and watched Brendan's figure shrinking more and more until he disappeared.