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smiling, and then he disappeared into the crowd. 
    My mouth gaped open.   Did I just imagine that?  Before I could reach a plausible conclusion, Antonio was walking back toward the table.  I had to pull myself together before he could take in my expression and guess that something was off.  He leaned down to kiss my cheek again before taking his seat and reaching for my hand.  He looked out to assess the crowd and I was grateful for the few seconds I had before he would turn his eyes back toward me.  My thoughts were a jumble of shock, excitement, guilt, and uncertainty.  I was sure that my expression was similar to that of a bewildered deer suddenly caught in the headlights of some reckless driver.  I wrangled in the emotion and tried to gather my scattered thoughts before Antonio turned back to face me.  He didn’t leave my side again for the remainder of the dance and didn’t complain one time about having to sit there.  In fact, he seemed content just to be with me.  We continued to hold hands and occasionally shared a laugh at the expense of the various fashion victims who crossed our path.  I momentarily forgot about AJ’s perplexing behavior as I sat beside Antonio enjoying the evening.
    By 10:30 the dance was nearly over.  It was time for the Homecoming King and Queen to be crowned; I ignored most of the production.  It was all overrated to me and I was distracted by a mixture of my aimless thoughts and the feeling of hunger that was beginning to creep up on me.  The Queen was some random girl – probably a cheerleader or something like usual.  After a loud applause and a few whistles from the crowd, she was crowned and then it was time to announce the king.  And of course….it was A. J.  I didn’t see that one coming.  I’d been so self-absorbed these past few weeks that I didn’t even recall hearing his name mentioned for Homecoming Court.  Then again, I could have heard and didn’t think twice about it.  I’d only become undeniably aware of his existence a short time ago. 
    AJ took to the makeshift stage that was about 10 yards away from the table where we were seated.  The crowd erupted in a loud roar as he was crowned.  A bunch of guys were yelling and making a noise that could only be described as barking and random girls were screaming his name at the top of their lungs like he was a celebrity or something.  It became apparent that I wasn’t the only one who felt the strange pull toward him.  The faintest hint of jealousy jolted me.  He smiled graciously and headed for the steps after being crowned.  The crowd was still going wild as he gave them all a general nod of appreciation.  But then, without warning, he turned in my direction and stared as if there was no one else in the room. I felt my body temperature increase about ten degrees as we exchanged a lingering gaze while Antonio observed.   I wanted to turn away, I swear I did, but somehow AJ had me frozen in place and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.  A couple seconds later his smile grew, and to make our momentary connection more obvious to Antonio, AJ winked at me before turning away and freeing me from the trancelike state.  Just like that, I had control over my body again and instantly felt uncomfortable.
    Before I could get myself together, Antonio turned to me and asked, “What was that about?”
                  I scrambled for an excuse.  “He’s just a boy in one of my classes.”  Antonio didn’t press for any further explanation although I could feel his eyes on me long after he’d stopped talking. 
    It was a quarter to eleven and the gym was starting to clear out.  Antonio sat silently , probably still thinking about the incident.  But then again, so was I.  He didn’t look upset, just lost in thought.  We were only waiting for Megan to return from the bathroom and then we too would be on our way.  I sat fidgeting as I tried to figure out what Antonio had made of AJ’s