"So how was your date?" I asked. I was sitting out on the patio on the swinging bench. It was Saturday afternoon and I had just woken up.

"It was amazing! The restaraunt was so fancy! The freaking napkins were folded into flowers. It was crazy. I swear, I saw one of the waiters wearing a Rolex," Alisha gushed. I laughed. "And Jason was so sweet. He was a total gentleman. And he's hilarious. But he knows when to be serious. He's absolutely perfect," she told me. I smiled to myself.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy," I said.

"Ohh. Mila! I'm so sorry I had to ditch you!" she apologized shrilly.

"It's fine. I was fine. I just..." I trailed off. I didn't want to tell her that I ran into Derek and that we watched the sunrise together. "I went out for coffee and then went to the beach. It was a peaceful night," I said. That is what I did. Even if I didn't do it alone. So I wasn't lying, technically.

"Aww. I still feel bad," she said. "OH MY GOSH!" she yelled. I nearly dropped the phone. "I forgot to tell you the most important thing that happened!" she squealed.

"Alisha, there is a PHONE between us. You don't need to shout," I murmured, rubbing my ear.

"Oops! Sorry!" she said. "But guess what?!" she asked. I waited for her to continue.

"Well are you going to tell me or not?" I snapped.

"I thought you would try to guess," Alisha replied.

"Leesh!" I exclaimed.

"Ok! Ok!" she said. "He asked me to homecoming!" she announced. I sat up in the swing.

"Already?" I asked.

"Mila! Homecoming is in 2 weeks!" she said.

"Shit, no way?" I asked.

"Yes way. I can't believe you forgot. Has Derek asked you yet?" she asked.

"Will you stop with that?" I snapped.

"Fiesty. I don't understand why you're so awkward about him. You two are so cute together," Alisha commented.

"Let's talk about you again," I muttered.

"I'd love to, but I have to go. I have to eat lunch," Alisha told me.

"Ok. I'll see you on Monday, I guess," I said.

"Ok byee!" she said. And then she hung up. I got up to go make lunch for my dad, although I myself wasn't hungry. We ate in silence.

"Dad?" I asked.

"What?" he grunted.

"Ummm. I was wondering if I could go to homecoming this year? Alisha's been begging me to go," I asked him.

"When is it?" he asked.

"In two weeks. On a Saturday," I replied. He chewed his food and then swallowed. I waited for him to answer. He took another bite and chewed. I began to lose patience, but didn't prod out of fear.

"You have to be back before 11:30. If you're not back by 11:30 exactly, I will lock you out of the house," he said simply. Then, he got up and went to the family room to watch TV. I blinked. Yes!

Now I needed a dress.

******

"What about this one?" Alisha asked, holding up a blue-ballerina-type dress. I crinkled my nose and shook my head. We were at Macy's, browsing through their dress selection. It was Sunday and Alisha insisted on getting our dresses today. "This?" she asked, pointing to a light pink one with a bow on it.

"Ew, Alisha. Does that look anything like something I would wear?" I asked her. She dropped her hands to her side.

"You're right. Well, what color are you thinking?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I either want red, dark blue, black, or something that looks totally different," I said.

"Well, good thing that narrows it down," Alisha said sarcastically. "I want purple," she said to herself. We shopped around and tried on what seemed like a hundred dresses. When we didn't find anything at Macy's, we went to Nordstrom's. That's where I found my dress.

"Black and white? Really?" Alisha asked when I walked out. I nodded.

"This dress is so me," I said. She stood back and tilted her head a bit to the side.

"It does fit you amazingly. I especially like the bodice part," she said, rubbing the tiered bodice between her fingers. "All right. I'm sold. It looks better than everything else. But I still haven't found mine," she said. We bought my dress and hit downtown to get some ice cream and to browse around the little boutiques. That's where Alisha found her dress.

"This is PERFECT," she exclaimed, coming out of the only dressing room. It was pinkish purple dress, and she was right. It was perfect. It was so...Alisha. So she bought it and we went shopping for shoes, which was easier than looking for dresses.

"Gosh, I am SO excited that you're going to homecoming this year. We need to find you a date," she said. I rolled my eyes. We were at her house now. I was getting ready to go home. It was almost time for dinner.

"I don't need a date," I said.

"Fine, be that way. What if Derek asks you though? Will you say the same thing?" she asked me. I sighed.

"He's not going to ask me. Chill OUT," I told her.

"How do you know?" she asked. I still had not told her about Friday night/Saturday morning. I actually didn't if he'd ask me or not. The vibe that I got from him was that he wasn't much of a "dance" kind of person.

"I don't. It's just a feeling," I said.

"Well that's dumb. I think he'll ask you. And when he does, I'm going to rub it in your face that I was right," she said.

"Ok, well. You do that. I'm going to go home now," I said.

"You're such a loser. You honestly don't give enough credit to yourself. You're beautiful and a great person. And I think Derek sees that," she told me. I smiled at her and gave her a hug.

"I need to go now," I told her. She pinched my nose.

"Bye!" she said. I waved at her and then left, a smile still on my face.

*******

The rest of the week went by pretty fast. Before I knew it, Friday was here. Which meant it was the day of the first big game. This was also the game that Derek invited me to. Alisha had asked me if I wanted to come with her. I didn't want to tell her that I was already going, so I said I would. It worked out that I would be there with Alisha (who was there for Jason) and fulfill Derek's request. We sat in the bleachers. People were wearing school colors (red, gold and black), had their faces painted, made signs, etc. I was a bit overwhelmed. It was the first game I'd ever been to. I was wearing black skinny jeans with a dark red top and a yellow-golden scarf; this was only because Alisha told me to be spirited. We waited about 30 minutes before the soccer players ran out. First the other team ran out. We heard cheers from the bleachers on the other side of the stadium. Our side boo-ed. And then, our team ran out and our side of the bleachers, which had considerably more people on it, stood up and cheered. I stood, too, and clapped silently. Alisha screamed and shouted Jason's name. Then, the players all got into position. I craned my neck to look for Derek. Alisha told me he was the striker, which meant he was the secret weapon. I saw him positioned on our side of the field, a little ways behind Kyle, who was our midfielder. I saw him glance up at the crowd, and I swear I saw his lips form into a small smile when he looked in my direction. But that may have been a hallucination from all of the energy in the stadiu. The game began and people started screaming and shouting. The cheerleaders were doing their cheers, people in the crowd were making up their own cheers, people were whistling and calling out names. It was definitely quite the experience. And then, about 20 minutes into the game, Derek made the first goal. Our side of the stadium roared with praise. We all stood up and cheered loudly. The rest of the game went by slowly. No one else scored. Even after half-time no one made a goal. Derek got close to making another goal, but the goalie blocked it. The game ended around 9 and we all got out of the bleachers. People milled around in the parking lot and some people went inside to wait for the team and some people went home. Alisha wanted to wait out in the parking lot for Jason and wanted me to stay with her.

"Your boy made a goal!" she cooed at me. I rolled my eyes at her.

"He is not my boy. Be quiet," I said. After about 20 minutes, some of the players began walking out of the school. They were surrounded by friends, chatting and reliving the game. Jason came up to us, beaming. He took Alisha in his arms and gave her a kiss on the lips. She smiled when they broke away, blushing slightly.

"Hey Mila," he said, smiling at me.

"Hey, congrats on the game," I said.

"Thanks. But you should be congratulating Derek. He scored the winning goal," he said.

"He scored the only goal," Kyle said, coming up to our group. Leah and her groupies sidled up next to him. What started out as just Alisha, me and Jason turned into a huge group full of chatter and laughter. My phone buzzed and I stepped out of the circle to see who it was. I saw Alisha smile at me as I walked away and wondered curiously what it was about. It was a text, asking me to come inside next to the lower gymnasium. I looked around and then back at the huge group. The text had been from an unknown number. I decided to investigate and went down to the lower gym. No one was there.

"Mila," I heard a voice say. I jumped and turned to face Derek, thoroughly confused.

"You sent this text?" I asked. He nodded. His hair was wet. He no doubt had taken a shower. He was wearing dark jeans, a plain white v-neck tee and his soccer jacket. It was a simple outfit and one that he'd worn many times before, but he looked good nonetheless. "How'd you get my number?" I asked.

"Jason. Who got it from Alisha," he replied. I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Congratulations on your goal," I said. He put his hands in his jeans pockets and leaned against the side pillar.

"Thanks," he replied. He studied me with his green unreadable eyes. I leaned against the pillar in front of him. He was only a few inches from me. My heart was beating so fast, I was sure he could hear it. I definitely could. I felt like my heart was beating in my ear. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to homecoming with me," he asked. My heart skipped a beat. I looked him in the eye, glad that the lighting was dim and he couldn't quite see the pink that just showed up in my cheeks.

"I'd...yeah...sure," I replied feebly. I could feel the color blazing in my cheeks and my heart beating like a drum. A hint of a smile appeared on his lips.

"Great," he said.

"Great," I said. And then we stood there for a bit, just looking at each other, not saying anything.

"Let's go," he said after a few brief moments. I nodded. And we walked outside to the large group around mine and Alisha's cars, together, but not quite at the same time. Alisha's eyes twinkled when she saw me. I looked down, avoiding eye contact. I wanted to run or dance or sing or shout or something to express my excitement. I was going to homecoming with Derek Thomas.