(Title Still Needed) Chapters 1-4

Chapter 1:

I can’t believe it, homecoming is in a week! Still I have no dress or date. Originally I was going with Steve, my ex-boyfriend. We were the cutest couple, Gina and Steve. He was quarterback on the North High Wolves football team, and I was first saxophone in the Wolves Pride marching band. We were a perfect pair, and he is so hot. Steve has brown hair just the perfect length, gorgeous brown eyes, a hypnotizing smile, and muscles like none other. Obviously we looked great with me on his arm. I have shoulder length dirty-blond hair with dark highlights, green eyes, a straight smile, and an okay figure, not fat or too skinny. That all went down the drain about two weeks ago.

Steve met the new head cheerleader, Chelsea. She is practically perfect, blond hair, blue eyes, perfect figure. It was only obvious by the way she flirted, she had a crush on Steve. Every time she saw him it was always “Hey Stevey”, or “Looking good Stevey.” It was gross how she was all over him. The fact that Steve seemed to enjoy it didn’t help much. Whenever she showed up, he was grinning like some stupid monkey. One Friday, at the first football game two weeks ago, it all happened. I was putting my sax away after the fame, and heading to meet Steve at his blue jeep like I do after every game. When I reached the car, I saw Steve and Chelsea kissing. I didn’t know how to react, except to turn and run. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as I ran back into the building.

Right when I got through the door, I ran into our lead snare and my good friend, Jason. He stopped me. As he hugged me I told him the whole story. Jason was trying to comfort me when Steve came in the door.

“Gina, let me explain,” he pleaded.

“Explain what?” I asked still crying. “There is nothing you can say, I saw the whole thing. You were making out with her! How could you?”

“She kissed me. Hunny, I could never do that to you,” Steve said trying to grab my hand, but I just broke away.

“You didn’t have to kiss her back, but you did.”

“I know, I shouldn’t have. I love you, Gina.”

“It’s too bad you had to do that. You could have pushed her away if you really loved me,” I said as Chelsea walked up.

“Baby, I thought you were going to dump her sorry ass and come back outside with me,” Chelsea said as I just looked at Steve.

“How dare you?” I yelled as I again started crying. “You betrayed me!” I shouted slapping Steve and turning to Chelsea. “Screw you both!”

I started walking off when Steve grabbed my arm trying to stop me. “Let go of me! We are so through!” I concluded storming into the band room with Jason.

I have been ignoring Steve since, all his calls, emails, and attempts to talk to me in the school hallways. He isn’t worth my time. Steve even tried talking my best friend, Hope, into getting me to talk to him. Of course she wouldn’t. Hope is my strong side right now. She is there for me to cry to when I need her.

Hope is a beautiful girl with a beautiful soul. She has short, straight, light-brown hair, hazel eyes, a cute smile, and a pretty figure. It’s not surprise that she has an amazing boyfriend. She is dating Aaron, starting point guard on the North High Varsity basketball team. He is incredibly tall, 6'6" to be exact, short dark-blond hair, green eyes, and a strong-muscular body. No doubt they will win the sophomore class Duke and Duchess at the homecoming dance. Homecoming will be a blast, if I can find a date.

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Chapter 2:

After school today, Hope and I are going shopping for homecoming dresses. I have no date, but of course I’m still going, I can’t miss it. I need a dress too, though. It is Friday and last hour on Friday’s always takes forever, especially when it’s Biology. This class could not go any slower. I can’t wait until Hope and I are in my cute little black slug bug and on the high way to the mall. There is still 45 more minutes! I want class to be over. Come on bell, ring!

Finally, the release bell. It’s like freedom to my ears. I am on my insane route through the teenage drama filled hallways, into the anxious parking lot, and to my car, where I’ll meet Hope. Here she comes, soon we’ll be on our way.

“Gina, have you met the new kid yet?” Hope asked me as we were driving to the mall.

“Not yet, why?” I questioned in response.

“Oh my gosh, he is hot!” she exclaimed. “I have fifth hour Geometry with him, and wow!”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” I asked. “What’s his name?” I started to get interested.

“Bryan. He has brown hair that is short but stylish, brown eyes that look amazing through his glasses, a breath taking smile, he is tall, and built.” Hope described sighing.

“Dang, he sounds really hot!” I responded getting excited to meet him. “I hope I have classes with him Monday!”

“You guys would be so cute, Gina!” Hope was getting at something.

“Hey, slow down Hope. I just broke up with Steve remember. I am not so sure if I’m ready to date someone right now.”

“That’s true,” Hope understood. “But trust me, when you see Bryan you’ll change your mind instantly.”

“Will I now?” I asked somewhat sarcastically with a chuckle.

“Of course you will. He is friends with Aaron, and he says that Bryan is a great guy,” Hope explained.

“Are you two trying to set me up?” I guessed suspiciously.

“Maybe,” giggled Hope. “Don’t tell me you’d honestly mind if we set you up with an awesome guy, Gina.”

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted as we pulled into the mall parking lot. “Shall we go get a couple dresses?”

“Let’s do it?” Hope concluded as we grabbed our purses and got out of the car.

We entered the mall and headed straight to Janet’s Dress Boutique. There were so many dresses, I knew we’d be trying on for hours to find the perfect one for homecoming.

The first dresses were taken off the rack and we entered the dressing rooms. Our fashion show began. My first dress was knee length, light pink with a few sparkles, and a dark pink bow around the waste. Hope was in a mid-shin length dress of a peach color with a black trim. This was going to be a hard decision. I could tell by the already beautiful dresses being tried.

Back into the dressing rooms, we put on our second victim. Like the first, this dress was about knee length, a navy blue color with a with bow on the hip, and a white trim around the bottom. Again, Hope’s dress was absolutely amazing. It was a little below the ankle in length, black in color, and had a white bow on the strap.

We again came out of the dressing room, this time two different dresses. Me, I was in a white, ankle length dress with a sky blue ribbon on lace and wrapped around the waste, then draping the back. On Hope was a curve hugging lavender dress with dark purple dots, and it was about knee length. It was a truly fun dress.

Still we haven’t found the perfect dress, so we re-entered the dressing room. I left this time in a long maroon gown with a little flare after the hips, and a black lace skirt over the flare. Hope flaunted a gold dress with black trims that hung around mid to low shin.

What great choices, but still we wanted to try on more. The fifth dress I chose to wear was silver with pink roses around the waist before it slightly flared down to my shins. The dress Hope wore was knee length, white, strapless, and had black strips going horizontally to the skirt then stopping.

We still had time and we were still shopping for the perfect dress. For this round I was in a floor length gown that was brown and curve hugging until past your hips when it flowed. Hooked to your lower back was the same colored brown in lace that hung down as low as the dress. This dress didn’t match me, but Hope had to try this on. She showed off a garden green dress that hugged your curves to your hips where a thin white belt was attached, then hung flowing to the floor. It was beautiful, but not her style.

Stepping back into the dressing room, we traded gowns. Perfect! Stepping out of the closet like rooms, we knew our obvious decisions. These were the dresses we would buy. The green dress Hope was in earlier now hugged my figure and accentuated my big green eyes. The brown dress, previously on me, now looked much better on Hope. These were the two dresses we would wear to homecoming.

Checking the prices and changing back into our school clothes, we approached the register. My dress was $117.00, but on sale for $75.00. Hope’s was $105.00, and on sale for $63.00. Perfect deals for original dresses. This worked out great!

We purchased our gowns and took them to my car, that way we didn’t have to carry them while we were shopping for shoes and accessories. Laying the dresses carefully on the back seat, I locked my car and we returned to the inside of the mall.

As Hope’s stomach growled, we noticed it must be getting to be around dinner time. I checked my cell phone and saw that it was 5:45pm, we shopped for dresses for two hours. We figured we might as well catch a bite to eat before continuing our shopping.

After we ate our meal from Chang’s Chinese Food, we dumped our trays. Satisfied, we started towards Perfect Price Shoe Stop. They have the cutest heels, and the shoes had to go perfect with our dresses.

Down the first aisle, nothing went with our dresses. The second aisle had adorable shoes, but still nothing. I did find the cutest pair of black boots that were leather and went to mid-shin. For only $35.00, I had to get them. We kept venturing through the shoe store. Aisle three, aisle four, aisle five, still no luck. But Hope found a cute pair of black stilettos about three inches tall. On the top near the toe was a small brown bow. The shoes were perfect and only $37.00, bringing her total for her homecoming attire to $100.00. The next aisle had the shoes I was dreaming of. White opened toe heels about 3 ½ inches tall and a single strap around the ankle. My pair was less that Hope’s, $25.00, bring my total also to $100.00.

The purchases were made and we left the store. It was 7:15pm after we left the shop. The mall close at 10:00pm and we still needed jewelry, make-up, and purses.

Next shop up was Beauty’s Accessories for bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. The jewelry had to be perfect with our dresses. We entered the store with our shoe bags to shop around.

In this store we had a lot of luck. Down the first aisle I saw the most gorgeous necklace, a small pearl-like jewel hanging from a blue one-inch strap. This came in many colors, and the black goes absolutely perfect with my new black boots. For only $15.00 it was going to be a purchase worth my time.

We traveled down many aisles finding plenty of beautiful items. Unfortunately we each only have $150.00 left each, and we still have items to buy.

“Oh my gosh,” Hope exclaimed, “Gina look at this!”

I walked to where she was. “Look at what?” I questioned.

“This necklace, it’s perfect for you!” Hope said pointing at an amazing necklace.

“Wow,” I replied breathless. In front of me was a sterling-silver locket with a green flower sprouting out of the top, all hanging from a glittering silver chain.

“Don’t you love it?” Hope asked excitedly.

“Hope, it’s perfect! I can’t take my eyes off of it!” This is the necklace. The price was $35.00, but I had to have it. This was the necklace to go with my dress. Plus, it came with matching silver earrings topped with an elegant green jewel. The only missing piece is a matching bracelet, but I can’t spend only more money at this store tonight.

For Hope, we found a simple string of pearls. She made her purchase of $20.00, leaving with $130.00 left for a purse and make-up. I still had $100.00 left after my small $50.00 spree inside that shop.

We were in that store a lot longer than it seemed. Now being 8:00pm, we had two hours left. Only one shop left. It was Perfect Beauty and Bags, the only shop that sells the best purses and great make-up kits.

Entering this store, we made a promise only to buy the needed items, a purse and one beauty make-up kit. Once that was agreed, we entered the purse portion of the store. There was a variety of purses there like none other! Small handbags, big purses, short straps, long straps, leather, denim, brand name, and original, there were so many options. I had a feeling this would take a while.

We looked at many purses. I had a tough choice to make. There were about three purses that I saw that would be perfect with my dress. One was a long strap purse made of white leather hanging from a silver chain. This one costs $35.00. The next I saw was a handbag with no strap that was also white leather. It was cute and only $25.00. My last choice was a short strapped while leather bag with a black rose on the top right corner. For $30.00, it looked like a great deal. But which to choose?

“Hope, which do you like more?” I questioned my best friend.

“Definitely the first one,” she responded without even a thought.

“Are you sure?” I looked at it, trying to compare it to my shoes.

“Of course I’m sure! It’s the same color and material as your shoes. Plus it’s more elegant and more your style,” Hope explained. “Which should I get?” She held up two purses. Her first was a medium length strapped black leather bag hanging from 14k gold straps. Definitely it was a beautiful dress for $33.00. The next option was a strapless black leather bag with a gold heart hanging from the clip to close it. Only $30.00.

“That’s an easy one!” I pointed out. “The second one of course. No doubt at all, it fits who you are.”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure. I want to look perfect!” Hope pointed out.

“I’m definitely sure. Plus, Hope, you always look gorgeous. Now let’s go get the make-up. It’s only 8:45, we have time.”

We put the rejected choices back in their spots and headed to make-up. This area would not take near as long, maybe half an hour at the most. All we had to do was find eye-shadow, blush, and lip-gloss. Eyeliner and mascara will just be black, so we already have those.

Hope and I went to different color aisles here. She went to basic colors, like browns, tans, and pinks. I went to the greenish area. It didn’t take Hope long to find the perfect shade of brown eyeshadow to match her dress. My eyeshadow definitely took longer, but I found a dark green close to the shade of my dress and I got white too, for layers.

Hope and I did go to the same blush aisle though, we had close to the same skin tone, so the colors would be the same. The third or fourth shade of light pink was the one we wanted. It blended with the skin perfectly to make an innocent glow.

The very last thing on our list was lip-gloss. I wanted an innocent rose pink color. That did not take me long to find, since I know this aisle very well. This color happened to be on sale too. Hope chose a color close to mine, just a little darker. Her’s was also on sale.

Adding the $35.00 for my purse with the $6.00 for my lip gloss, I only spent $41.00 at this store. Hope spend $30.00 on her purse and $7.00 on her lip gloss, a total of $37.00.

With all of our needed items, we still had money left. I have $59.00 left and Hope has $93.00 left. The time was 9:15pm and we had been shopping since 3:45. It took a while, but we are ready for homecoming next weekend. Now I just need a date.

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Chapter 3:

Hope and I got in the car and started to drive home. On the way to her house, Hope’s phone rang.

“It’s Aaron, hold on,” Hope told me as she answered her phone. I could hear the whole conversation through the phone.

“Hello?” Hope answered.

“Hey babe,” Aaron responded. “Are you girls still shopping?”

“No, we just finished. We are on our way home.”

“You will never guess who I”m hanging out with.”

“Who?” questioned Hope in curiosity.

“Bryan. He wants to meet Gina.” When he said that I looked at Hope. “You two should meet us at Sal’s Pizza so that they can meet.”

“Hold on, let me as Gina and I’ll call you back,” Hope said hanging up with Aaron and turning to me. “Hey Gina, want to meet Bryan?”

“Sure,” I replied. “Let’s go.”

Hope called Aaron back and told him that we’d love to hang out there. About five minutes after Hope hung up, we pulled into Sal’s Pizza. I was a little nervous about meeting this new guy, but yet excited at the same time. We entered the pizza scented building.

Instantly we saw Aaron and approached him. “Where’s Bryan?” Hope asked looking around.

“He went to the bathroom,” Aaron answered grabbing Hope’s hand. “How are you, Gina?”

“I’m pretty good, thank you,” I replied.

“Did you girls get a lot of shopping done?” he asked us as he pulled Hope closer to him.

“Of course,” Hope said as if it were obvious. “We are going to look great at homecoming!”

Aaron kissed Hope on the cheek and said, “You always do.” Hope giggled and I grinned.

Just as a new conversation was about to begin, I saw the most handsome guy walk out of the bathroom. “Wow,” I muttered and Aaron and Hope turned to see what caught my mind.

“Hey Bryan, over here,” Aaron called to him.

“That’s him?” I questioned still in shock.

“Yeah,” Aaron responded as the guy approached. “Bryan this is the girl I was telling you about. Gina this is Bryan,” Aaron introduced as I shook Bryan’s hand.

He had the deepest brown eyes I have ever seen. “How are you, Bryan?” Hope asked him.

“I’m amazing, and you?” Bryan asked greeting Hope. She didn’t get a chance to respond.

“Why don’t you two get to know each other?” Aaron stated as he grabbed Hope’s hand and led her to a different table.

I just looked up at Bryan, he was so tall. “So,” Bryan started unsure of what to say.

All I answered was, “so...” He had taken my breath away. I looked over to Hope and saw that she was starting a slow song on the juke box. Couples around the restaurant were beginning to dance, including Hope and Aaron.

“Do you want to dance?” Bryan asked me.

“Of course,” I replied. He grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. I put my hands on his shoulders and he grabbed my hips as we started to dance.

“You know, you have very pretty eyes,” Bryan pointed out.

“Thanks,” I responded grinning. “Your’s aren’t at all bad either.”

“So I hear you had a hard time with your last boyfriend.”

“Yeah, he cheated on me,” I explained the whole story.

“No girl deserves that, especially one as beautiful as you,” Bryan pointed out. I just blushed and looked up.

I moved a little closer to Bryan as we talked a little more. After the first song, another started. The second was still slow, but it was a little more fun. We got into the song, and Bryan spun me. As I was facing the door during the spin, Steve and Chelsea walked in.

“Oh great,” I sighed spinning back into Bryan.

“What’s wrong?” Bryan asked as if he did something bad.

“My ex just walked in. Dang it, he’s coming this way.”

Bryan whispered, “Don’t worry. I got this.”

I just look at him with a trusting look. He started some fancy footwork, and right as Steve reached us Bryan dipped me. I giggled and smiled at him.

“May I cut in?” Steve asked Bryan grabbing my hand.

“I think not,” Bryan answered. “She’s mine for now.” I looked at Bryan and took my hand away from Steve.

“Fine,” Steve snapped. “Gina, you’re going to be sorry that you chose this loser.”

I looked at Bryan first then Steve, and stated, “I don’t think so.”

Steve stormed off. “Do you have a date for homecoming?” Bryan asked.

“I do now,” I answered laying my head on his chest.

The rest of the night went by fast, but I got to know Bryan very well. I found out his favorite color was green, he likes all music, he drives a green mustang, he plays guitar, and he writes poems.

Hope and I had to leave, so we were saying good-bye to the guys. Aaron was kissing Hope good night, and Bryan took my hand and walked me to my car.

“Do you think I could take you out tomorrow?” he asked.

“I would like that,” I responded.

“I’ll pick you up at 6:30 then?”

“Cool,” I finished. Bryan looked me in the eye softly.

I was leaning against the driver’s seat of my car. Bryan grabbed my hips and pulled me to him, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek. After that my knees went weak and I again locked eyes with him. Instantly we both knew he wanted to kiss me, and I wanted to kiss him. He leaned in and our lips touched, and we kissed.

As I kissed Bryan, Hope walked over. “Ew, get a room,” she joked. We stopped kissing and laughed.

Steve overheard Hope’s joke and said, “Wouldn’t be a bad idea. Nobody wants to see that. Gina, you’re going to lose your reputation with this nerd.”

“Hey, Steve, back off. I happen to like Bryan, a lot. He’s not a back stabbing jerk, like you!” I fought.

“You know all he wants is to get you in bed right?” Steve pulled Chelsea to him and kissed her.

“Screw you Steve. Bryan isn’t like that. Are you ready, Hope?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Hope said waving good-bye to her boyfriend one last time.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at 6:30,” I told Bryan giving him one last kiss on the cheek.

“Bye,” he finished.

Hope and I got into my car and I started it up.

“I see that you two got along well,” Hope giggled.

“Oh yeah,” I giggled as well. “He’s taking me out tomorrow night.”

“Now way? Oh my gosh, that’s awesome, Gina! What are you going to wear?”

“I’m not sure, maybe my faded jeans, my new black boots, my black halter top and my new black necklace. I’ll probably straighten my hair.”

“That sounds great. I might have to take you out myself,” Hope joked.

“Bryan might not like that too much.”

We both started laughing. “Call me as soon as you get back from your date,” Hope said as we pulled up to her house. She got out of the car, but bent back down to add, “I’m not joking. I want to hear all of the details.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later, Hope.” She closed the door and I drove away. Hope only lives half a mile from me, so I was home in about a minute. I pulled into the third space in our three car garage. There were only three of us, so a three car garage was all we needed. I turned off my car and went inside.

It was just my dad, James, my 18 year old sister, Ashley, and I. My mom died from breast cancer when I was seven.

I called out, “Is anyone home?”

“Back here,” Ashley responded from the back yard.

I went back to greet her. Ashley looks a lot like my mom. She’s 5'8", curly blond hair, green eyes, and a cute figure. She’s a senior at the same school, and we’re pretty close.

“Where have you been,” she questioned.

“Hope and I went shopping for dresses, then to Sal’s Pizza,” I replied.

“Sounds fun.”

“Yeah, and I got a date out of it.”

“Don’t tell me you’re back with Steve,” Ashley sounded disgusted.

“Definitely not!” I objected. “His name is Bryan. He’s really sweet. You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“Where’s Dad?” I asked looking around.

“He’s out on a date with Wanda, remember?” Ashley reminded me.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

“If you were here earlier, you would have gotten to meet her. She’s cute.”

“Really?” I became curious.

“Yeah, she’s tall, brunette, brown eyes, about our size, and she’s got good style.”

“She sounds beautiful. Oh, I want to meet her,” I pouted.

“They’re going out tomorrow night, too, so you can meet her then.”

“But I have a date tomorrow,” I argued.

“Oh yeah, with Bryan. Tell me about him,” She begged.

“He’s tall, brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, smart, an amazing smile, and really built. Hope and Aaron set me up,” I described.

“What time is your date?”

“He’s picking me up at 6:30. What time is Dad’s?”

“7:00. You just might have to meet her next weekend.”

“I guess,” I admitted. “Well I’m going to put my stuff away and go to bed. It’s been a long day. Goodnight,” I finished.

“Good night.”

I went back inside and grabbed my many items from shopping, then headed down the hall to my room. After hanging my dress in my closes, putting my shoes on my rack, and placing my jewelry in my jewelry box, I changed into my pajamas. I was changed, my hair was brushed, and my make-up was off, so I jumped into bed. I drifted off to sleep almost instantly and I started to dream.

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Chapter 4:

I dreamed that it was already tomorrow night. Bryan arrived and I was ready to go. He greeted me and we were off to our date. We went to the new Laugh Out Loud Teen Dance Club. The car stopped and Bryan got out. He went around the car and opened the door for me.

“Shall we go inside?” he asked offering me his arm.

I took his arm, “Of course.”

He led me up the few steps and into the club. Bryan told me he’d be right back and went up to the DJ. I saw some of my friends, Michelle and Leah Johnson, dancing near by, so I joined them. They are identical twins, both with blond hair and blue eyes, they were short at about 5'2" or 5'3", and both were cheerleaders.

Bryan arrived back at my side and a slow song started playing. He explained that the DJ is his cousin. The song playing was “So Beautiful”, that was also playing during our first dance. He kissed me on the cheek and pulled me closer.

After the slow song, the DJ took a break. Bryan led me to one of the many booths and showed me my seat. Just as we began talking, Steve walked in with Chelsea. I definitely did not want to see him there.

“What, Steve, are you following me?” I quizzed.

Bryan just whispered, “Ignore him and he’ll leave you alone.”

I turned away from Steve’s direction back to my conversation with Bryan.

“Don’t ignore me, Gina. I know you still love me,” he persuaded.

I just kept ignoring him.

“This loser can do nothing to you that I can’t. You can’t live without me,” Steve kept pushing.

Still I ignored him. Bryan could see that Steve was starting to get to me.

“What does this freak have that I don’t? He can’t provide you with what I can,” he fought pushing me over the edge. That was it.

“Steve, you know what Bryan has that you don’t have?” I shrieked standing suddenly. “He has respect! Bryan is definitely better looking and way more controlled than you. He is sweet and you are just a girl using son-of-a-bitch!”

Steve became angry after this, so angry that he slapped me, knocking me back into the booth. Bryan jumped up after he saw that. A fast, flying fist knocked Steve square in the jaw. Angry, Steve retaliated coming after Bryan. He shoved Bryan, then Bryan shoved him back. Steve used all his power to push Bryan against the table, knocking him out.

I gasped, “Bryan!” I rushed to his side. “Bryan, say something!”

Bryan didn’t answer. Tears started falling and Steve picked me up and carried me off. I was trying with all my might to fight him off, but it was no use.

“Gina,” I heard a faint distant voice. As I heart this Steve leaned in to kiss me.

“No, leave me alone!” I fought.

Someone started shaking me. “Gina, Gina, wake up!” They called.

My eyes opened as I lay constricted in the covers, looking up at Ashley.

“Are you okay?” she questioned.

“I’m fine, it was all just a dream,” I reassured. “What time is it?”

“10:15, why?”

“Just curious,” I mumbled fighting my way out of the covers. “Let’s get some breakfast.”

Ashley agreed, and we headed down the hall to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Daddy,” I greeted. He was already for the day. My dad is definitely handsome, brown hair, green eyes, muscular. I get most of my looks from him.

“Good morning,” Dad replied. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not really,” I answered.

“Why not?”

“I had a horrible dream, it was weird.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just a weird dream. How was your date?”

“Good. Wanda is a sweet lady. You can meet her tonight.”

“I have a date tonight, so I wont get to meet her,” I told him pouring some cereal and sitting to eat.

After breakfast I took a long shower. By the time I was out of the shower, it was 11:00. I put on pink sweats, a black tank top, and my black tennis shoes. My hair was pulled up into a pony tail, I put on my black mascara and eye liner and pink eyeshadow. I put on my pink sweat jacket and grabbed my purse.

Ashley and I got into my car, we decided to go get our nails done. The sun was bright, so I put my cute black sunglasses on. The nail spa was only five minutes from our house, so we were their by 11:35. It wasn’t busy, so we were both taken right away.

Lisa was always the one who did my nails. She knows exactly what I like. Our nails took a little longer to do, so when they were done it was 12:30. We still had time so we took half an hour to get our tone nails done as well.

When our nails were finished and looking fine, Ashley and I got some lunch. We sat and had sandwiches at our favorite cafe.

As we ate, Ashley questioned, “So what did you dream about last night that freaked you out so bad?”

“I dreamed about my date tonight. Steve showed up and hit me, then fought Bryan knocking him out. It is a little scary, Steve seems to be following me lately,” I explained. “No matter where I am, he seems to be there, too.”

“Don’t worry about it, Gina. He’s probably just sorry that he cheated on you. He might even want you back,” she said.

“I would never go back to that lying, cheating, girl using, bum!” I argued.

“You better not,” Ashley agreed. She checked her watch, “It’s 2:30, what time is Bryan coming to pick you up?”

“He’ll get me at 6:30,” I replied as my phone rang. It was Bryan, “speaking of...” I said as I answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, how are you today?” Bryan asked.

“I’m pretty good, how are you?”

“I am doing great, I’m on the phone with you,” he flirted.

“You’re so sweet.”

“So, do you think I could pick you up early?”

“Yeah, what time?” I answered.

“5:00"

“I’ll be ready for you.”

“Okay, see you tonight.”

“Okay, bye.” I hung up. I turned to Ashley, “He’s coming to get me at 5:00 instead.”

“That’s in two and a half hours, we should probably head home so you can get ready.”

“That’s true.”

We got home about five minutes later. I went inside and straight to my room. Before I took my outfit out of the closet, I plugged in my straightener and turned it on. As I did this Ashley walked in with a gift. With everything that has been going on, I forgot that my birthday was the same day as homecoming. September 10th, I would be 16.

“I was going to save this until your birthday, but I figured why not give it to you for your date,” she explained handing me the gift.

I took the gift and opened it. “Oh it’s gorgeous!” I exclaimed pulling out a sterling silver bracelet with my birth stone out of a small box. “Thank you.”

“Read the engraving,” she told me.

Ashley was good with words, so I couldn’t wait to read it. The engraving said ‘Since birth we’ve been sisters, for life we’ll be friends’.

“It’s beautiful,” I told her giving her a hug.

“You better wear it tonight!” she scolded jokingly.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I responded setting it with my outfit.

Ashley smiled and left as I started to style my hair. That took me an hour and a half, so when that was done it was 4:00. Only an hour left and still I had to do my make-up and get dressed, but that should be plenty of time. My make-up took 20 minutes, but it turned out perfect.

I put on my jeans and my black halter top, added my new black-heeled boots, my new necklace, earrings, and bracelet. I was ready. A couple of squirts of my favorite perfume added the finishing touches. It was 4:45, I was ready with 15 minutes to spare. I went to the living room to wait with Ashley.

“Wow, Gina, you look beautiful!” Ashley exclaimed.

“Thanks,” I replied.

My dad walked into the room. “He must be one good looking guy to make you dress this way,” he joked.

I just giggled. It was 4:55, and Bryan pulled up. He got out and came up the door.

The door bell rang and I opened the door. “Wow, you look amazing,” Bryan gasped.

“Thanks, you too,” I responded. He was in jeans, a grey shirt, and a nice blue jacked. “Come on in.”

“Okay, but we have to go in a few minutes, we don’t want to miss our plans.”

“That’s fine, but you have to meet my family. Bryan this is my dad, James. Daddy, this is Bryan,” I introduced.

“Nice to meet you, Bryan,” my dad greeted.

“Nice to meet you as well, sir,” Bryan shook my dad’s hand.

“You can call me James,” my Dad explained. He obviously approved of Bryan.

“Bryan, this is my sister, Ashley,” I again introduced.

“Hi, Bryan, how are you?” Ashley giggled.

“I’m good. Don’t you love that chemistry homework?” Bryan joked.

“Yeah, of course,” Ashley smiled.

“Wait, you two know each other?” I was confused.

“We have chemistry together,” Ashley answered.

“Yeah. Well we better go, Gina,” Bryan told me.

“Okay,” grabbing my jacket I said good-bye to my dad and Ashley.

We got into Bryan’s car. “I didn’t know that you knew Ashley,” I chuckled.

“I didn’t know she was your sister, otherwise I would have told you,” Bryan apologized.

“That’s fine, no need to apologize. So what are we doing tonight?”

“I’m not going to tell you, it’s a surprise.”

“Fine, be that way,” I joked.

“I will, you will see where we’re going when we get there,” he explained.

“Okay,” I had a feeling he was going to be romantic. We live in Kansas, so we are in the country. It’s definitely quiet.

Bryan turned on the radio and we danced and sang along to the music as he drove. After about a 20 minute drive out of our little town and into the middle of now where, Bryan pulled over and turned off the car. He got out, went around the car, and opened my door for me.

He took my hand, “Are you ready?”

“Bryan, where are we?” I asked curious.

“You’ll see, we’re just going to take a small walk to get there,” he answered me.

“Okay,” I grinned looking up at him.

We were still holding hands and he led me down the street. He entered a sun flower patch and we walked down a path through the tall yellow flowers. I was really wondering where he was taking me. We walked through the sunflowers in silence for ten minutes.

Suddenly we entered a clearing. I stopped in shock. Bryan had taken me to an apple orchard. In the middle of the orchard was a cute little picnic set up for the two of us.

I looked up at Bryan, “It’s adorable. I love it!”

“I thought you would,” he gave me a kiss.

I gave a little shriek when he picked me up and carried me to the picnic. He grabbed two champagne glasses and poured some sparkling apple cider into each, handing me a glass.

Before Bryan took a drink, he raised his glass and said, “A toast to me being the luckiest guy on earth by being out here with you.”

I smiled blushing. “Cheers.” We tapped glasses and took a drink.

Bryan had made a wonderful picnic dinner. He made turkey sandwiches, sliced green apples, and for dessert two chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting hearts on them. I couldn’t believe it, he remembered my favorites. We only talked about that for a few moments, but he remembered perfectly.

Bryan planned the whole thing just right. As soon as we finished eating, the sun was just beginning to set. I moved closer to him and just laid in his arms watching the sun set. I wanted to say something, but this whole night had taken my breath away. Bryan laid down and pulled me down with him so I was laying my head on his chest.

I could hear his heart beat and it was soothing. Laying under the night stars with Bryan was inspiring. It was just absolutely amazing.

“Do you know how beautiful you look right now?” Bryan whispered.

I just smiled, rolled over and kisses him. He put his arms around me and turned on his side. Way laid kissing under the stars for a short while.

Bryan checked his watch, it was 8:45. “Let’s get out of here, I still have more planned,” he said getting up. He grabbed my hand and helped me up, and we walked back to his car.

We got back in his car and he questioned, “Have you heard of the new teen dance club down main street?” He started the car. “I think it’s called the Laugh Out Loud Teen Dance Club.”

I just froze remembering my dream. It had to just be a coincidence, right?

“Gina, are you okay?” Bryan asked worried.

“Yeah, sorry, zoned out. I do know the club you’re talking about.”

“Cool, my friend Dave is the DJ there,” Bryan started, “I thought we’d go check it out.”

“Of course, it sounds great.” That’s what I told him, but in truth I was a little worried about my dream. It couldn’t all come true, right? Steve couldn’t just possibly show up and fight Bryan. Or at least I hope not.

I was quiet the whole ride there, and right before Bryan turned off the car he asked me, “Are you sure you’re okay. You are really quiet.”

“I’m fine, just kind of a Deja Vu from my dream last night,” I explained. “There’s not way it could come true though, right?”

“Well I don’t know your dream, but I can guess that it probably wont.”

“Okay, but if Steve shows up, can we just leave?”

“Of course babe, I wont let him get to you. I promise,” he reassured.

I leaned in and kissed him and he turned off his car and we went inside. So far it was all good, I didn’t see Michelle and Leah.

“Oh, this is my favorite song!” I exclaimed. “Let’s dance.”

“Okay,” Bryan agreed as we started to dance.

After the song, all was going great. Still no sign of Steve and Chelsea.

“I want you to meet my friend,” Bryan took my hand leading me to the DJ stand. “Hey Dave, how’s it going?” Bryan greeted his friend.

“Nothing much, Bryan,” his friend added. “Wow, she’s cute,” he pointed to me. “What’s her problem?” Dave joked about me dating Bryan.

“I’m not sure,” laughed Bryan as he put his arm around me. “Gina, this is Dave. Dave, this is Gina.” Dave took his break.

“Nice to meet you Dave,” I stuck out my hand.

“Like wise,” he shook my outstretched hand.

“I’m going to get a drink. Gina, you want something?” Bryan asked.

“Diet Pepsi, please,” I answered.

“Sure thing babe,” Bryan kissed my cheek as he walked to the counter.

“So how did you and Bryan meet?” Dave started his interview.

“Our friends, Hope and Aaron, set us up,” I responded.

“He’s a great guy. He wont hurt you, I promise. Bryan told me about your last boyfriend, he is nothing like that,” Dave informed me.

“So far I’ve noticed that. Bryan’s pretty amazing,” I said without noticing that Bryan had stepped right behind me.

“Oh I am?” he chuckled handing me my soda.

I just giggled and stepped closer to him. He put his arm around me and said, “Let’s get a table.”

Dave, Bryan and I went over to a booth and sat down.

“I was just quizzing your new girlfriend,” Dave chuckled.

“She’s pretty great, huh?” Bryan made me blush.

Bryan and Dave began talking and I just listened with my head on Bryan’s shoulder and his arm around me.

After a while of the two friends talking, Dave had to get back to the DJ stand. The first song he played was the first song Bryan and I had ever danced to. Bryan had told him to play it.

We left the booth and went to dance. Bryan held me close as we moved in rhythm to the music. The song seemed to go way too fast, before I knew it the song was over.

The next song us was a quicker, salsa song. Bryan instantly began dancing salsa, I danced with him. It was a blast to dance to this song.

Many songs followed, and after about 10, we took a break. Sitting in the same booth we were in earlier, we faced each other and he kissed me.

As he kissed me, Steve had to walk in. But he wasn’t with Chelsea, he was with her younger sister, Brittany.

He came over to Bryan and I with his new flame. Bryan and I both saw him and got up to leave, that was the deal after all.

We started to walk off when Steve grabbed my arm pulling me back and kissing me. I broke away and slapped him.

“What the hell are you doing?” I screamed.

“You can’t resist me,” Steve snarled.

“Oh really?” I snapped turning to walk away.

I didn’t get far when Steve grabbed me. “You can’t just walk away from me,” he smirked. His grip on my arm kept getting tighter.

“Let go of me,” I demanded slapping him.

He still didn’t let go. “I said...” I began but stopped when I felt a sharp pain in my cheek. Steve actually hit me back.

“I don’t think so,” interrupted Bryan. He walked over, wound up, and knocked Steve hard in the jaw with his fist.

Steve’s grip on my arms released and I walked to Bryan. We started walking out when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Steve approaching.

“Bryan, watch out,” I shrieked as Steve’s fist went flying towards Bryan.

Quickly, Bryan turned and stopped Steve’s fist by grabbing his wrist.

“Don’t touch me,” Bryan warned.

I smiled as we walked out of the club and climbed into his car.

“My hero,” I whispered leaning and kissing Bryan.

“Nobody touches my girl,” he replied kissing me back.

Bryan drove me home. When we got to my house, he gave me one last kiss good night, and I got out of the car. I couldn’t wait to tell Hope... what a night.

I stepped inside and it turns out Ashley wanted to know everything, just as Hope did.

“So, how was it?” she questioned.

“Absolutely amazing! He took me to an apple orchard for a picnic, then we laid under the stars together, and last we went to a dance club where he hit Steve protecting me,” I shortly told her my story.

“Wait, that all sounds so romantic, but what happened with Steve?”

“He came into the club starting drama. I stuck up for myself and Steve hit me. Bryan stuck up for me and hit Steve, then he brought me home,” I explained.

“Bryan’s a sweet guy. You’re lucky Gina!” she said.

“He’s amazing, and I know I haven’t known him long, but I think I’m falling in love,” I dazed.

“Oh, Gina, that’s cute.”

“Well I promised Hope that I’d call her. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good-night,” Ashley said as I went back into my room.

I didn’t bother changing, I just called Hope right away. It wasn’t too late, so I knew she would answer.

“Hello?” I hear Hope’s cheery voice say over the receiver.

“Hey Hope,” I greeted.

“Oh my gosh! Hi, Gina! How was it?” she got anxious.

“Amazing, I think I’m falling in love with him,” I responded.

“No way? That’s awesome! Where did he take you?” The questionnaire had begun.

“We drove into the country where he had a picnic made for us in an apple orchard.”

“That’s so romantic.”

“Yeah, we laid together hand ate under the stars,” I began again.

“Wow, he needs to hang out with Aaron more so that some of his romantic thoughts rub off on him,” she joked.

I giggled. “Then we went to the Laugh Out Loud Teen Dance Club,” I paused, “and he hit Steve.”

“He did? Rock on!” She cheered. “Why?”

“Steve was, like always, causing drama. He was downing me about Bryan, so I yelled at him, and he slapped me.”

“That jerk!”

“I know. It pushed Bryan over the edge, and he hit him.”

“Didn’t Steve hit back?”

“Of course he tried, but Bryan stopped him, threatened him, and we left,” I told her.

“I think he is falling in love with you too, girl!” Hope exclaimed. “Wanna share him?”

“Don’t think so,” I laughed.

“Darn it!” Hope laughed. “Well thank goodness it went alright!”

“Yeah, I’m glad this is working out.”

“Well I have to go, Gina. Talk to you on Monday.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye,” Hope hung up.

I changed into my pajamas and went to bed. My dream was, no doubt going to be about Bryan. I sighed and fell asleep.