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My First Middle-School Dance (Will I Ever Forget This Moment?) (I Have No Idea.) (Meh—I’ll Probably Forget It.)

I stood in front of the double doors, breathing deeply. I could hear music coming from the dance on the other side of the wall. You can do this, I told myself. Just walk in.

But I couldn’t make my feet move. Missy had gotten into my head, like a fly that just keeps buzzing around and around until it drives you crazy. I could already hear all the nasty things she would say: “Get out of here, LIMPY! Just DRAG yourself right back out the door. Your dress is totally LAME.”

There was only one thing to do.

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I pushed open the doors and gasped. The gym looked incredible. The dance committee had done something amazing with silver balloons and silver netting that hung down from the ceiling. And I have no idea how they got the place to stop stinking of sneaker fungus, but the entire gym smelled like Missy’s shampoo.

In one corner, there was a table loaded with cupcakes and cookies. And at the far end of the gym was a stage with a red curtain. Glittery silver letters spelled out BATTLE OF THE BANDS!

My stomach flipped like an Olympic gymnast. I couldn’t believe Missy had managed to pull off a theme like “Moonlight in Venice” in the gym.