Cora had put her finishing touches on Elle’s corsage. A very simple pink rose connected to some white and black silk ribbon, which iridescently shimmered around the flower.
“Cora, Elle’s going to love it.”
Riley and Genevieve walked in the front door. Riley had on a suit and tie and Genevieve was wearing a white long dress, not as provocative as some of her other outfits. With her darker skin it made her look incredibly wholesome.
“Why are you guys dressed up?” I asked.
“We are chaperones for the dance tonight,” Riley said. I noticed that Cora was also wearing a dress. It wasn’t odd for her to be dressed up, but tonight it was different.
“Cora, don’t tell me that you are chaperoning also.”
“Nicholas, don’t blame Cora. It’s partly my fault,” Genevieve said. “I couldn’t let Riley go by himself tonight. That Joy Lemmins has been asking if his wife was coming to the dance for weeks now. I guess Chase Letterby wasn’t enough for her.”
“I think she was hoping to get me by myself. So that means that Cora had to come with us because of the buddy system,” Riley added.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, Nicholas,” Genevieve said.
She sounded so sincere. I couldn’t be mad at her. And lately I had begun to trust her. All of my disgust with her had vanished.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind. Plus the two of you can possibly meet Bryce and tell us what you think. Riley and I already know him well enough.”
Last night, I told them what Bryce had said to me. We all agreed it seemed like he was the one we should focus on from now on. But Riley reminded us that we should still be on the lookout for other possibilities, because we could be wrong, which was something we couldn’t afford.
Genevieve cornered me outside away from the others before I left to get Elle.
“This is for you.” I put my hand out and she dropped a large silver coin into it. The coin was double the size of a quarter.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s a gift. I have wanted to give it to you for a while now, and tonight seemed like the right time.”
I examined both sides of the coin. They were blank.
“There’s nothing on it.”
“There is something on it, but you will have to look a lot closer.”
I slipped the coin into my pocket, thanking her for the gift, still not knowing the meaning of it. I would take a better look later.
The three of them loaded into Cora’s truck and left for school. Cora didn’t ask to take pictures this year, but I was sure Mrs. Canan would take plenty. Cora probably already talked to her to arrange to get copies.
Elle was standing out in front of her house when I arrived. She looked more beautiful than words could describe. The sun setting behind her made her hair come alive with different rays of light piercing through it. I fell in love with her all over again. The euphoria that engulfed me was intense. I felt free. No boundaries, no worries, just Elle and me.
“Elle, you look absolutely amazing.” I could barely get the words out. She flashed her crooked little smile. Her dress was sleeveless with what looked like tiny, shining pieces of polished coal flowing down to her waist and then transforming effortlessly into pink silk or satin that went to the ground with a little flare out at the bottom.
“Nicholas, you look very handsome,” Mrs. Canan said. “You both look so cute together and match perfectly.”
Somehow Cora knew the exact shade of pink Elle’s dress was going to be. My pink tie and vest matched it perfectly with a black and silver pattern going through it. My black Oxford suit also looked like the same shade as the black in her dress with a little of its shine.
“This is for you.” I handed her the corsage. Her mom took it out of her hand.
“Cora has simply outdone herself. It’s magnificent,” Mrs. Canan said, taking it out of the box. “Here, Nicholas, let me get a picture of you putting it on Elle’s wrist. Cora will love this picture. She wanted me to take a lot of pictures of the two of you.”
I was right. Mrs. Canan took hundreds of pictures of us in different poses.
“Where’s your dad?” I whispered to Elle in between poses.
“He’s gone on business again.”
I hadn’t seen her dad much lately, which was fine by me. But I knew Elle hated that he was gone so much. She missed him. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if one of my parents was always gone on business or always traveling like Bryce’s dad who was in the military.
“Mom, we have to pick up Bryce and Erin still,” Elle said.
“I think I got enough pictures. You both have a good time,” Mrs. Canan replied. “Say hi to Cora for me.”
Elle looked at me.
“I’ll tell you in the truck,” I whispered, opening the door for Elle.
“So what did my mom mean when she said to tell Cora hi?” she asked as soon as we both got into the truck.
“She is a chaperone this year, along with Riley and Genevieve.”
Elle didn’t say much at first. Was she bothered that Cora was going to be there or was she upset about Genevieve?
“I didn’t know they needed chaperones that badly,” she said.
I explained to her how Joy Lemmins had been stalking Riley, and after the Chase incident, they didn’t want to take any chances. Genevieve didn’t want Joy Lemmins anywhere near her husband. That made Elle smile big. I guess the thought that Genevieve didn’t want Riley alone with Joy made her feel better.
This year, Eric wasn’t coming with us. He was planning to make some fancy dinner for Livi instead. Chad and Amber were also going solo. So it was just going to be the four of us: Elle, Erin, Bryce and me. At Erin’s house we took some more photos for her parents, but it was quick. Erin’s parents both shook my hand repeatedly, thanking me for what I had done during the earthquake, which was awkward. Bryce’s dad was out of town so he was absent. Bryce looked extremely uncomfortable, fidgeting with his black bow tie constantly. Maybe it was because Erin was all over him. On top of Erin being handsy, she was also ignoring Elle completely for some unknown reason, like she wasn’t even there. She couldn’t still be upset about last year’s Homecoming. Maybe she felt like Elle stole me away, but in reality, I was Elle’s from the start.
We decided to go to a nicer restaurant instead of going to McDonald’s again. We went to a fondue place called the Melting Pot, which Cora had suggested to me. It was low lit and very private. When we were seated, Elle and I accidentally sat across from each other in the booth. Erin quickly sat down next to me, making Bryce sit next to Elle. In the center of the table was a pot of oil and several metal skewers to cook our food with. The waiter described what we could order and how to cook it. We all ordered a little bit of everything off the menu. It was odd that we had to cook our own food.
Elle tried to make small talk with Erin and Bryce, but Erin didn’t want any part of it. She would only respond in short answers. Bryce tried to keep the conversation going, but you could tell he wasn’t used to the small talk thing. Luckily, Erin got up to go to the bathroom and surprisingly asked Elle if she’d like to go with her. This would give me some time to talk with Bryce alone, and hopefully the girls could work out whatever was going on between them.
“So, Bryce, what do you think of Erin?” I asked.
“You weren’t kidding. Erin is aggressive. She’s cute, but I think she’s a little too much for me to handle.”
I had to figure out how to ask him about his dreams or find out more about what clicked inside of him when he hurt that guy in the football game.
“So, Bryce, how have you been sleeping?”
Bryce gave me the weirdest look. Real smooth, I thought to myself. I sounded like a crazy person asking that.
“I mean, since you moved here, because whenever I used to move to a new place I would have these horrible dreams.”
I must have made him feel a little better about the question because he answered it.
“Co
me to think of it, I have been having these weird dreams, I think. But I don’t really remember much of them.”
Before I could ask more about it, Erin and Elle came back.
Elle and Erin were both smiling. Elle sat next to me this time and Erin sat down next to Bryce. It looked like whatever was bothering Erin before got worked out somewhere between here and the ladies’ room.
“So, what were you boys talking about?” Erin asked while sticking a piece of chicken and putting it into the oil.
“Nicholas asked if I have been having bad dreams,” Bryce said. Both of the girls gave me the same look Bryce had given me a minute ago. “He was explaining how he had bad dreams when he moved to different towns.”
Erin interrupted him. “I would have had bad dreams too if I were you, Nicholas. I mean, your parents died in the 10-10 Earthquake and then those reporters kept wanting to ask you questions about how you saved those people, when all the time you had to be thinking about how you didn’t have a chance to save your parents. Then moving from town to town to hide from the media—that all sounds like enough of a nightmare to me.”
The words rolled off of her tongue like she was talking with a friend about what she ate for lunch. Her words stabbed me like a sharp dagger going into my back. Is that what people said about me when I wasn’t around? Did they feel sorry for me? Was I just some charity case?
Elle looked angry, like she could jump over the table and strangle her, but Bryce spoke before she had the opportunity.
“How dare you speak about what Nicholas went through as if you understand! You don’t, none of us do. For such a cute girl, you can say some pretty ugly things.”
The whole table sat in silence. The crackling of the oil cooking our food was the only sound I could hear.
“Nicholas, I am so sorry,” Erin said in a pleading manner. “I treated you like you were some sort of juicy piece of gossip. I am truly sorry. Bryce, please forgive me, too. You just make me nervous because I like you a lot. I tend to talk a lot when I am nervous. As you can see, I am doing it now.” She put her napkin over her mouth like it was the only way she could shut up.
“Erin, it’s okay, I accept your apology,” I said. “You are right, that is how it happened.” I really did mean that it was okay. I was just shocked by it.
Everyone still looked upset, so I tried to lighten the mood.
“But Erin, if you talk about me again, please add in that I saved a van full of nuns and orphans from a fire, while I was saving the people during the earthquake.”
It did the trick. Everyone began to laugh. The rest of the dinner was better, full of conversation and fun.
By the time we got to the dance, Bryce and Erin looked to be really hitting it off. He was turning out to be a really good guy, especially after defending me at dinner. I was beginning to see Bryce a lot differently. It was so ridiculous of me to be jealous of him and Elle. I could now see how he could be the 4th.
I pulled into the school lot. We were immediately directed to a newly graveled path that led onto one of the practice fields to park.
“What in the world?” Bryce was pointing back to where the school parking lot used to be. There were mounds of sand everywhere, making it look like there was a vast desert oasis between us and the school.
“I thought the sand would be the right touch for the Arabian Night theme,” Elle said.
“You knew about this?” I asked Elle.
“Well, of course; I planned it, but I didn’t want to tell anyone about it. I wanted it to be a surprise.” She squeezed my hand.
“It sure is a surprise. You guys took the theme really seriously,” Bryce said, still staring at the sand.
“We were getting tired of the same old Homecoming themes. Just wait until you get inside. I’m really excited to see it myself, because I was just responsible for helping get the sand and the transportation set up from the parking area.”
We parked and got out of the truck, walking toward a large colorful tent that looked like it was taken straight out of some Hollywood movie set. Inside, there were dozens of small tents mounted on what looked like golf carts with larger tires. We got in line for the tents on wheels. They would pull up and pick up a group of people, taking them to the dance, I guessed. When it was our turn, a man dressed in a genie costume opened the tent flap and we all got in. There were several large pillows in there to lounge on. Once in, Elle said, “How do you like our magic carpets?”
Sure enough, we were sitting on something that could have passed as a magic carpet. We began to move. Elle opened both sides of the tent to reveal the desert landscape. We passed people on camels that were placed around more colorful tents. If I didn’t know we were in Winsor, Illinois, I would have sworn we were in the Sahara Desert. We arrived at the school after a ten minute journey through the oasis. The entire entrance to the school was covered in colorful fabric, hiding the school’s exterior completely from our view. The sand continued to the entrance of the school, and right down the middle was a reddish stone walkway for us to step on. Lighting the pathway were large oil lamps that were held by an L-shaped pole and hook. Surrounding them were cactuses with vibrant colored flowers. The four of us walked slowly down the path. Like everyone in my group, I was trying to see everything I could. Even Elle looked amazed, and she had helped with the planning.
We opened the fabric flap to go into the school. The red stone continued into the school, weaving in and out of the mini sand dunes down the hallway.
“Nicholas, is this type of thing normal here?” Bryce whispered.
“Unfortunately, it is.”
He smiled.
The lunchroom looked like the inside of a large silk tent. Red, gold and purple silk fabric stretched to the ceiling. All around the outside of the dance floor were different sitting areas covered in pillows. It took me a couple of minutes to take in all of the Arabian-themed décor. It even looked like they actually had a real snake charmer.
“So, what do you want to do first?” Erin asked.
“Let’s get our pictures taken so we can get it out of the way,” I said.
We walked into the gym, which looked the same as usual, but with a couple of themed areas for photos like last year.
“Nicholas,” Elle stopped me and turned me to face her.
“Right here is the first time I knew that I loved you. When I saw you last year getting your pictures taken with Erin, I knew right then that no one else should be with you but me. I was so jealous. I thought I had lost my chance to be with you. I decided then that if I ever got the chance to be with you, I would grab on to it and never let go.”
“You knew then? Why did you wait so long?” I asked with a smile.
She tilted her head to the side and smiled a very mischievous grin. “I had to play hard-to-get, even though you really didn’t have a choice. When I want something, I get it.”
I pulled her close and gently kissed her. The energy between us could have lit up San Francisco.
After pictures, we walked around the outside of the dance area. We wanted to see what the restaurant looked like this year, so we peeked in. It was just as amazing as everything else. Instead of tables, there were private tents placed on top of mounds of sand. There were stone paths that led to each tent. Instead of waiters and waitresses, it looked like there were belly dancers and genies. They had a little more clothing on than you would expect, but it was still something you wouldn’t usually see in a high school. I was sure the guys loved it in there.
“Let’s go dance,” Erin said, dragging Bryce to the dance floor.
His expression turned to horror; it was priceless. Elle and I laughed at Bryce as we followed them out to the dance floor. When we got to a certain point near the middle, I could see that a large circle had formed. When we got to the edge of it, I saw Eric, of course, dancing in the middle. I should have known it would be him. The crowd around him was clapping to the beat. He had his suit jacket off and his tie up around his head like it was a headb
and. He was a surprisingly good dancer. Then he stopped and pointed at Chad, who strutted into the center of the circle and started to dance. The crowd began to clap and chant his name, “Chad, Chad, Chad.” He wasn’t the best dancer, but that didn’t stop him from doing every funny dance move he could think of. He was just as entertaining as Eric.
I lost sight of Eric. Then he appeared right next to me and was pushing me into the middle of the circle. Everyone cheered. I was frozen. What was I going to do now? I was hoping that my talent would slow everything down so I could escape, but to my horror it didn’t. I was trapped. I looked back at Elle and Bryce. They were both clapping and screaming my name. I was only in the middle for a second, but it felt like an eternity. Then I came up with a plan. I closed my eyes and blocked out the crowd. I put my arms out like I was holding Elle and began to slow dance. The thumping music died away quickly. I opened my eyes, and Elle was standing in front of me. She took my arms and put them over her head.
“Nicholas, you sure know how to command attention.” She smiled.
“What?”
“As soon as you put your arms out, the DJ changed the song to a slow one like he was waiting for your cue. No one said anything. They just grabbed their dates and followed your lead, kind of like sheep following their shepherd.”
Around me, everyone was slow dancing. It was kind of funny to hear her use that expression about the shepherd and the sheep. I used that same expression last year to describe how the people at the hospital acted around Chase.
“Elle, I just wanted to dance with you.”
She smiled.