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Party night arrived, and Ellie came to pick me up in her car.
“Don’t be late!” Mom yelled. “You have school in the morning.”
“I won’t!” I said.
“Take care of her, won’t you?” Mom said to Ellie.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Grace, Cassie is in excellent hands,” Ellie said, smiling.
I don’t know how she does it, but mom relaxed and smiled back.
“I think I am going to be sick,” I said as we pulled over near Toby’s house. “I can’t do this.”
“Oh, we are doing this,” Ellie said. “It will be worth it. You will get your dream boy, and I can rest in peace knowing I did my part for society.”
I grimaced. “You make me sound like community service.”
“Come on!” Ellie said, punching my shoulder lightly. “Locker boy will flip seeing how pretty you look tonight.”
I blushed. “I am just wearing a simple black dress.”
“Haven’t you learned anything from Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” Ellie said. “It is all about the girl wearing it, darling.”
There was a small crowd gathered in Toby’s house. Music was blaring from the speakers, and all the house lights were turned on. It was a sleek modern house with an enormous pool at the back, decorated with strings of lights.
“We should go meet with Toby,” Ellie said.
“With Toby? Why?” I asked.
“Because it is his party, and he invited us?” Ellie said like it was obvious.
“I don’t think I should go,” I said. “What if he asks me out? I would be rude to say no, won’t it?”
“I will go see him then?” Ellie said. “You will have to be at the party on your own.”
“I think I can manage,” I said, unconvincingly. “I will just stay in a corner.”
“Ok, I will come back as soon as I can,” Ellie said. “Just send me a text if you need me.”
I nodded. "Sure."
Ellie left, while I lingered in one corner. It was only a few minutes, but I wished Ellie would hurry back.
I didn’t know anyone here.
Time passed slowly. I wondered if Ellie found Toby, but then I saw him coming into the room. What if he saw me? I thought. I had to hide quickly.
There weren’t many hiding spots in the open concept house.
Why do people like living in a glass box? I thought, exasperated.
I hid behind the only large object I could find, a large abstract figurine. I hoped Toby didn’t look over in my direction and see me peeking through the slotted eyes.
I heard him talking to another person, “Have you seen Cassie?”
“Who?”
“Cassie... Dark hair, green eyes?” Toby asked.
The person shook their head.
“I was sure she would come,” Toby said, disappointed. “She is Ellie’s friend?”
“Oh, Ellie!” the person said, nodding. “She was looking for you. I think she went to the back.”
“Did she?” Toby asked, suddenly happier. “Her friend must be with her. Thanks!”
“No problem,” his friend replied.
That was close, I thought. I waited until I couldn’t see Toby in the room and came out of my hiding spot. I figured people would think it odd if I kept hiding behind the figurine, so I quietly made my way to the nearest sofa.
“Are you Cassie?”
I turned and saw a familiar face.
I nodded. “You are Lisa, right?”
“Yes,” she said and sat next to me. “Where’s JD?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”
Lisa looked surprised.
"What?" I asked.
“I thought JD would have come with you?”
I blushed. “Why did you think that?”
“I asked JD if he wanted to go out with me and he turned me down. He said that he was seeing someone,” Lisa said. “I was sure he was talking about you.”
I shook my head and couldn’t help my heart from sinking. “No, it is definitely not me.”
Lisa gave a sad smile. “He is such a great guy. I am not surprised that he has a girlfriend. Anyway, it was nice talking to you, Cassie.”
“Same here,” I said.
So, JD had a girlfriend? I thought miserably. What was the point of me being at this party?
Ellie still hadn’t returned, so I went searching for her.
I found Ellie by the pool, talking with Toby. He looked really happy to see me.
“Hi Cassie!” he said. “I wondered where you were.”
“Hi Toby,” I said, smiling back. Toby opened his mouth to ask something, but I quickly turned my head towards Ellie. “I want to go home, Ellie.”
“But you just came here?” Toby protested. “We didn’t even have time to talk. I was hoping to ask you something.”
“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked, concerned. “Did something happen? You look like you are going to cry.”
“I..” I couldn’t finish what I was going to say, as someone tapped my shoulder.
“Hi, Cassie. I was hoping I would find you here.”
I turned to see it was JD, smiling sweetly at me.
I stood there stunned, until Ellie gave me a small nudge.
“Oh, hi JD!” I said, my voice a little high. “I thought you would be here with your girlfriend?”
“My girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend,” JD said, confused. “Who told you that?”
Toby looked annoyed, so I stepped aside to talk more privately.
“Lisa said that you were seeing someone?” I said, blushing.
“Oh... that,” JD said, ruffling his hair. “The thing is, I wanted to ask someone out and didn’t want Lisa to get any mixed signals, so I told her a white lie.”
“Is that so?” I said, blushing harder. “Who did you want to ask?”
My emotions were a mixture of both highs and lows. I felt giddy, but also felt embarrassed.
I tried not to melt into a puddle at JD’s gaze. I could feel Ellie’s glee all the way from where I was standing.
“I.. I wanted to a.. ask you for a long time..” JD stammered. “Will you... will you go on a date with me, Cassie?”
Again, I froze. JD looked on nervously.
A movement behind him caught my attention. Ellie was jumping up and down, mouthing yes.
“Y.. Yes,” I replied.
JD was in awe. He recovered quickly and flashed a big smile.
“Great! How about this Saturday?” He asked.
I nodded. I handed him my phone, so that he could type in his number.
When he gave the phone back, I stared at the name.
“Who’s John Damon?” I asked. It was like a lightning bolt hit me at that very second. His name had haunted my dreams for ages.
Was this destiny at play? I wondered. Or just a strange coincidence?
“John Damon is my full name,” JD–no, John, I corrected myself–said. “See you soon?”
“Are you going already?” I asked, disappointed.
“I have a swim meet early in the morning,” John said. “And the only reason I came today was because someone said you would be here.”
I blushed. It must be Ellie’s doing. (God, I loved her so much!)
I nodded. I saw him leave with an extra spring in his steps.
I returned to Ellie and Toby; the former was ecstatic, and the latter looked miserable. I guessed both of them overheard my conversation with John.
“A second is all it takes to lose the game,” Toby said, sighing to himself.
“Dust yourself off, champ,” Ellie said good-naturedly. “There will be other matches.”
“Do you have a volleyball tournament going on?” I asked. “Good luck! I hope you win.”
Ellie laughed, causing me to be confused, but I saw Toby give a small pained smile.
Later, when we were alone, Ellie explained Toby had been talking about me.
I felt sorry for Toby and felt guilty too, but that feeling didn’t linger for long.
In fact, everything felt wonderful.
I had a date with John!
I stayed much longer at the party that I would have normally. Now that my date was secured, suddenly the party was a fun place to be.
Ellie looked at her phone and swore.
“What?” I asked.
“The curfew!” Ellie exclaimed.
“I forgot, too!” I said. “We should go now!”
Ellie said a good goodbye to the host. I waved at him too, which made his face light up.
I wish I felt the same for Toby, but I didn’t want to lead him on.
We made it home five minutes before curfew. The kitchen lights were on, so I knew mom was waiting for me. I could imagine her pacing up and down in the kitchen.
“That was close!” Ellie said.
“Yes,” I said, relieved.
“How are you feeling?” Ellie asked.
“Nervous, excited... and terrified?” I replied.
“Sounds about right,” Ellie said, laughing. “We are talking about your date, right?”
“What if our first date goes badly?” I asked. “I have built this up so much in my head, Ellie. It is all I have been obsessing over for months... what if it is all a big let down?”
“What if it isn’t?” Ellie asked back. “What if it is the most magical date you ever had?”
“That is even more terrifying,” I said.
“You are a strange girl, Cassie,” Ellie said. “Don’t overthink it. Just have fun and get to know him better... and go home before your mom comes searching for me!”
“Oh, right! Mom!” I said, alarmed. “I will see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, sweet dreams,” Ellie said, grinning like a Cheshire grin. “Even though it will be hard for you, Cassie, don’t think about him too much.”
I rolled my eyes. We both jumped as my phone rang.
It was my mom calling.
“I told you to get inside!” Ellie said.
“Ok, ok, I am going,” I said. “Thanks, Ellie.”
“For what?” she asked demurely.
“For being my best friend,” I said. “And for everything else.”
“You are such a dork.” Ellie said. “I love you, now go inside.”
I blew her a kiss as I rushed inside. I waved from the door and watched as Ellie drove out of the driveway.
“Cassie, is that you?” Mom yelled.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I said. “I’m home.”
My body was home, but my heart and mind were still at the party, reliving the magical moment when John asked me out.
My phone pinged again. It was John wishing me a good night.
Maybe I will dream of him tonight after all? I thought to myself and smiled.