This chapter has a bunch of Turtlejou fluff...but lots sadness too      :( 

"Finally!" Kinkajou whispered loudly during 9th period "I can't wait for the dance!" If she got any more excited, she would probably explode with happiness. The girl leaped out of her seat, grabbing her things and ran out of the class. She could hear Ms. Kestrel behind her screaming something like: "the bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!" but she didn't care. Today was going to be absolutely perfect.

She opened her locker to get her backpack and something small and white tumbled out. It was a folded piece of notebook paper. Kinkajou unfolded it and read in shock:

Dear Kinkajou,

I've had a huge crush on you ever since 6th grade. You're beautiful, funny, and smart-and I would be so happy if you would go to the winter dance with me, because I have a huuuuuge crush on you. Please put this note in my mailbox after school with your answer. 

WILL YOU GO TO THE DANCE WITH ME?

at the bottom was a sticky note attached with a small doodle of a turtle. Kinkajou couldn't help but smile. "he likes...me?" she said out loud. She grabbed a pen from her locker and scribbled in her neatest handwriting at the bottom of the paper:

YES

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kinkajou threw open her closet doors and pulled out the dress she would wear-it was a light rosy pink color with an elegant silk skirt and embroidery on the top. It was a designer dress her mother had bought when she was a teenager but never worn. Somehow it had managed to stay in perfect condition-and her mother had sternly told Kinkajou that if a single thing happened to this dress, she would be in big trouble. But nothing was going to happen-because the dance would be perfect.

The school gym was even more decked out than it had been for homecoming-foil snowflakes hung from the ceiling and winter related decorations were everywhere. She could even see a snow cone stand near the snack table (yummy)! All the decor was making her wish it had been snowing in real life. Kinkajou scanned the room, trying to find her friends. They weren't hard to spot at all: Qibli was dragging Winter over to the snack table and Moon was nibbling on a snow cone near them. But neither Turtle nor Peril were there. She wasn't surprised not to see Peril because dances just didn't seem like her thing, but Turtle should have been there...

Sighing in dismay, she made her way over to Moon. Her friend was wearing a long sleeved midnight black dress patterned with small silver sparkles that made it look like it were made of the night sky. "You look...stunning!" she said. Moon blushed. "thanks...Where's Turtle? You texted me that he asked you out, right?" Kinkajou hopefully looked around the crowd again. "...Yeah" Moon walked up to the snack table. "consolation snow cone?" she offered. 

The two of them sat there by the snack table, eating and talking about the woes of life for a solid amount of time, until Kinkajou suddenly got a tap on the shoulder-she turned around to see Turtle standing there in a fancy suit, fiddling with his bracelet and blushing profusely. As much as she wanted this to be a romantic moment, she was also just a bit annoyed that he had made her wait a full 20 minutes after sending her a love note. "what took you so long!?!" she burst out. He looked down. "I was thinking of the right way to say this...I like you. A lot. And I have since 6th grade when we did that project-you're awesome...and I get it if you don't want to be with me-I'm just some boring theatre kid. " 

Kinkajou's face softened. "No you're not! and...I do want to be with you.." for a few seconds the two of them just stood there blushing and smiling until Moon walked up, still stuffing herself with food and smushed the two of them together in a sort of sandwich hug. "Go dance! SHOO!!!" She said, pushing her friends into the center of the gym. 

With incredible timing, the gym speakers began to play what appeared to be a slow song-Selfish by Madison Beer. However it soon became apparent that neither of them knew how to dance, so instead she just rested her head on his shoulder and they swayed slightly with the beat. 

Everything was perfect- fake snow had begun to fall from the ceiling and the lights dimmed, leaving only a faint blue spotlight on all the people dancing in the center of the gym. Kinkajou lifted her head-"Thank you for the note..." she whispered. Turtle looked confused. "What note?" 

Just then, the song ended and a girl appeared next to them, smiling slyly. 

"So, I see someone got my note" said Anemone. Kinkajou looked mortified. 

"that was YOU?!? You have a crush on me?!?" She asked in disbelief. Anemone looked even more shocked. "Gosh NO! I would never like anyone but Tamarin! I made that note because my brother is too spineless to do anything about that huge crush of his. And I obviously did the right thing because look at you two!" 

"Anemone-what? Do you realize what would have happened if I had decided against telling her how I feel today? You would have ruined our friendship! And it's not okay to pretend to be someone else and mess with people's feelings." Said Turtle.

Anemone shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't pretending to be someone else! I added one of your little turtle doodles from your 'top secret diary' thingy. Those were yours! Plus I was doing you a favor, so yay me." 

Turtle face palmed. "you opened my top secret-OH WHATEVER I'm already embarrassed! Also I'm telling mom!" 

The two sophomores trailed over to the other side of the gym, near the snack table to get away from Anemone. But she followed them. "What is wrong with you?" She yelled. "I can do whatever I want! And it's not like mom would believe you anyways, Turtle-she doesn't even care about you! I'm the only one that matters!"

Turtle looked hurt. Kinkajou wasn't going to let Anemone do this-she knew first hand what it felt like to have problems at home. "Anemone stop! You can't just walk all over people and expect them to bow down. You aren't a princess-you have to respect others too!" Anemone laughed through gritted teeth. "What do you know about respecting others? All you ever do is ignore people and act like you know what's right-but in reality, you're just a selfish, arrogant brat!" 

The familiarity of her words hit Kinkajou hard, and she struggled to find her words. "Yeah?" She began "Well....You're a selfish arrogant brat too!" Anemone smiled bitterly. "You're right. I am. The two of us are exactly the same. But there is one difference between us: Unlike you, I have parents who love me!" 

Kinkajou was not someone who started fights-she was the very definition of nonviolent. But this time, the deep, unhappy part of her was making the decision. She shoved Anemone, and the girl teetered over, standing back up quickly. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!" she screamed. In a fit of anger, Anemone grabbed the fruit punch bowl-and threw it at Kinkajou. More than half of its contents spilled all over her dress, staining it dark red.

A horrible hush fell over the whole gym and Anemone stepped back looking...satisfied? Blinking back tears, Kinkajou rushed out of the gym and out into the chilly December weather. She sat on the entrance steps to the school and looked up- snowflakes had begun to fall, sailing down like cold, delicate confetti. But it didn't matter. She was shivering all over, and thought of reaching for her phone to call Glory. But she didn't do that. Instead, she just sat there,  crying in a bare, stained, strapless dress, thinking of only one thing:

Why does this keep happening to me?

Ok, I know that was REALLY long and kind of sad but I got carried away...I haven't written a sad chapter in a while and this book is kind of how I express myself soooo