Page 8 of Already Falling

I take a deep breath. “Do you want to be my dance partner, Reid?” He looks up at me with a huge smile on his face, the corners of his eyes turning up.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he says, reaching his hand out to take it and swirling me around in a circle.

Our dance unit lasted exactly a month. Reid and I learned how to waltz, square dance, and salsa. I could barely breathe the entire time while our hands touched and shoulders brushed as we do-si-doed. He kept tripping over his feet during the salsa, making us stop and start over every minute or so.

“You are a terrible dancer,” I’d say, laughing each time he tripped.

“I’m nervous, okay. Dancing is hard.” Reid huffed out a breath as we took the starting spot to begin the salsa dance again.

Spring Break is coming up, which means the spring dance is coming up. Our school has been talking about it all week. Whenever the announcer says, “Go with some friends or bring a date,” I get flooded with nervous feelings because I know who exactly I want to go to the dance with. The school is having it on the Saturday right before Spring Break, which is in two weeks.

I hope Reid asks me to the dance. Whenever he walks into history class, his eyes find mine first. I can’t help but smile and hide my blushing cheeks each time. Chloe is tired of my crush by now. Instead, she just rolls her eyes.

“Just ask him to the dance!” She tells me at lunch, leaning over the table and reaching for a cheese puff in my lunch box.

“I can’t do that. I think I’d die on the spot.”

“You asked him to dance in gym class. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is the girls were forced to ask for partners. And he came up to me. I was about to ask Trevor from my math class.”

Chloe scrunches her head back. “Trevor? Still, it’s so obvious you both like each other. Just ask him.”

“It isn’t obvious, and I’m still not one hundred percent sure if he likes me. Besides, who are you asking?” I say, trying to divert the attention away from me.

“I’m going solo,” she says, waving her finger around in the air. “Me, Desi, and Kate are all going as single girlies, less pressure, and we are going to form a circle so no boys try to dance with us.”

I roll my eyes because I know Chloe is going to end up finding a boy to slow dance with. I know about three guys who all have a crush on Chloe. She’s already turned down one of them.

The Friday before the dance arrives, and I’m still without a date for the dance. I decided on Monday that I’d ask Reid to go with me, but I’ve only seen him once all week. He wasn’t in gym class, and he showed up right as the bell rang for history class, which was the day we had our midterm, so I didn’t have the chance to ask him. I hope he didn’t catch a cold. Then I really will miss my chance to ask him. I guess I can go with the rest of the girlies and Chloe. A part of me hopes he still goes to the dance. I sit through my last class period of the day, drifting off in a daydream.

I walk into the gym that’s been transformed to look like a whimsical garden, lights are dim, and there are bubbles floating around in the air. I’m wearing a new pink and green dress that I got over the weekend. I see Reid across the room, and he’s wearing a matching green shirt. It’s perfect. He’s perfect. We walk to each other and dance. He’s the best dancer ever, spinning me and laughing. A slow song comes on, and we get closer to each other. He leans and gives me a little kiss. I smile.

“Excuse me, Miss Gomes. Please hand in your test.” I’m jolted out of my fantasy and pass my test to the front of the class, glaring at the kid next to me who is looking at me funny.

I hope my daydream comes true.

Saturday afternoon, Chloe and I walk into the gym, and it’s nothing like my daydream. All the lights are on, and only a few paper flowers decorate the space. Whoever was in charge did a terrible job. We find our other friends huddled by the refreshments area and join them.

I try to have fun all night, but I keep looking at the door and around the gym. Looking to see if Reid shows up. Chloe keeps saying I should’ve asked him earlier. But he’s clearly sick or busy. I hope he’s okay. It pains me when I realize it will be a full two weeks before I see him again. Okay, maybe my crush is a big one after all.

Spring break was so much fun. My family took a road trip to Yosemite. We saw the biggest trees of my life. My brothers and I took a picture holding hands, trying to hug a tree at the same time, and our arms still weren’t long enough to wrap around it. It was extra fun because Chloe got to come with us. We got matching Yosemite stickers at the gift shop that we put on our diaries, and I got three new postcards. Chloe gave me the best idea to use one to give to Reid when we get back to school.

I pick one that has a bunch of redwood trees and a little path winding through. A couple is holding hands, walking on the path. I think it's perfect to ask him to go out with me. On the other side, I write a note to him.

To Reid,

Do you like me too?

O-Yes O-Yes

Love, Anni

I almost wrote the “No” option, but I didn't want him to say no, so I didn’t give him an option. I know my dad keeps stamps in the top drawer of his desk. I fly downstairs, clutching the postcard close to my chest just in case my little brothers are running around. They might rip it out of my hands if they see.

I quietly open the drawer and flip through the stacks of envelopes and papers until I see the stack of stamps paper clipped together. I look through them and find the perfect one. “L-O-V-E,” it says with red, green, and yellow flowers.

I tuck the postcard in my binder to keep it safe just as I hear Chloe’s mom honking from outside. My dad tried to tell Chloe’s mom that he could go to work later to take us to school, but she insisted that she wanted to take us.