There he was. Second row, third to the left. The most beautiful boy in the world. And also my best friend.

There I was, seated right behind him. I could inhale the smell of his laundry detergent, and almost hear his every thought. I was in love with him. Only he didn't know it yet. I planned to tell him at the opportune moment, but that moment had yet to arrive, and didn't seem to be coming anytime soon.

You see, I'm what you'd call a nerd. One problem with that: boy repellent! Well, actually there are two problems: the incessant teasing and bullying, and the whole boy repellent thing. The only guy I would even have a shot at would be someone as dorky and unpopular as me. Not really the ideal guy.Or girl, for that matter. But I didn't worry about that. Mark liked me as a friend. That was better than any of the other guys I knew. They all thought I was weird and had social issues. I wanted to move out of friendsville, but I never found the right time. I thought Iwould have had told after 3 years, but he and I were still just friends.

I felt as if the time would never come, or that when it finally did, I would chicken out. I mean, why would the most popular guy in school like a social outcast? True, we were already friends, but that was because we knew each other before the social pyramid was formed. Then everything changed. One day I had friends and got invited to parties, then suddenly no one wanted to be around me. Exept Mark. I guess that's why I started liking him.

"Eliza, is there something you'd like to share with the class? You don't seem to be focusing on my lesson. What could be more important than learning about the processes of mitchondria?" I immedieatly snapped to attention. Mrs. Pezmale's nasaly voice was bad enough to bring anyone out of lalaland.

"No, ma'am." I slumped in my seat lower than I thought possible. Great, now people would tease me for that too. I was humiliated that I'd let my mind wander again. I couldn't help it though. I sat right behind him. What better way to dream about a guy than to have that actual person in front of you?

The class continued on without another interuption, and when the bell rang, I zipped out of there as fast as I could. Course, I wasn't the only one anxious to get away from our creepy science treacher. But I knew I was the only one moving quickly for another reason too. I had music class next; also with Mark! Music was my favorite class. When I sang (not at school of course, I wouldn't let people tease me for that too) I felt so free and happy. How I felt before labels mattered. Before ... everything went bad.

Mrs. Katrow was our spirited music teacher. Too spirited at times, if you ask me. When I walked in the classroom, it looked like one of "those days". She was smiling her usual smile, but something was different. She was holding a huge stack of papers. By the way her hands were clasped tightly around them, I knew that whatever was written on the papers was very important. Important to her, at least.

"Class, please take your seats! I have an announcement!" her sing-songy voice echoed through the room. That's how I knew she REALLY was excited. She never speaks louder than a whisper, it "interrupts the flow of your mind" she says.

Everyone sat down, slouching with terrible posture, like all teens do. Nobody really wanted to hear the news. Nobody, except me.

"I just finished talking to the principal, and he said it would be a wonderful idea." After she said this, every ear in the classroom listened. If it involved the principal, it was big. "We are going to have a spring concert, as usual, but now the whole school will participate, not just the choir members!" Students groaned. People only took music to get an easy A, this meant they'd have to do some actual work. "Quiet down! The principal and I both agreed that there is a giant lack of enthusiasm for music in this school. And this would be just the thing to increase interest!"

People were already planning "sick days" on the day of the concert. "This was stupid," I thought. "No one's going to come anyway. Why waste all the energy in teaching them the songs?"

But then she continued.

"The best part is that our class will do a special dance number! I will pair you up according to height."

Dance partners? Oh dear. This just got worse. Now nobody would come for sure! My grade was infamous because the boys all thought that the girls still had cooties. Forcing the boys to touch girls would start a riot. And I was right, in a way. There was a large commotion as Mrs. Katrow assigned dance partners, but it was not cootie-related. It was a party inside my head. Mrs. Katrow had looked at me and said,

"Hmmmmmm, let's see. Eliza, you and mark seem to be about the same height. You two will be partners."

Partners. With Mark. I was in heaven! This was a dream come true! Mark walked over to me and smiled. I grinned back, feeling as if nothing could tear me down.

It was a dream come true! I didn't care what we would dance, just as long as I got to dance with Mark! I didn't care what song we sang, or what corny lyrics went with it, I Just cared that Mark would be holding me, and that i would be resting in his arms!

The rest of Music class flew by as one blur of absolute heaven. I could hardly remeber a thing except the deep ocean blue of Mark's eyes. I had to rack my brain just remeber what dance we were doing.

The tango! Thats what it was. Its a good thing too, because I already knew the steps. If I had to learn something new, I would have made a fool of myself. I hadn't paid attention to the teacher at all. I had just focused on the feeling of Mark's arms around me.

And it was the best feeling int the world. Iy carried me throught the teasing the rest of the day held. In fact, I even smiled when Amelia made fun of my "whacked up face".

But by the time I got home, all the sparkly feelings had faded, and the reality of the day's happenings finally hit me.