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mascara smearing-a problem that I’d heard other girls had when they cried-but I couldn’t bear to face anyone at my first Valentine’s Dance with red, puffy eyes. When enough time had passed that I was sure the illusive conversation between Clarissa, Nina, and Trace was over, I allowed myself to open the squeaky pink stall door. I was now alone in the bathroom. I guessed that meant the dance was almost over. No one wanted to be in the bathroom for the last dance, just in case someone happened to ask them.

    I willed myself to walk out of the bathroom and into the hall one lead footstep at a time. I gradually reentered the gymnasium. It felt smaller this time. Clarissa and Nina were up by the ninth graders again, talking to each other. Jess was by the back wall, drinking punch with a couple other ninth grade boys. I didn’t look for Trace. I wouldn’t be able to bear making eye contact with him now. As soon as Clarissa and Nina saw me, they ran over to me-both of them looking awkward in their way too grown-up high heels.
    “Gemma! We asked him!” Nina balled up her fists like a cheer leader.
    “What did you say? What did he say?” I braced myself for their answers.
    Clarissa spoke this time, “We just told him you liked him!” She shrugged her shoulders as though it wasn’t a big deal at all. “He didn’t seem that surprised. And then we told him that if he likes you back he should ask you to dance the last dance.”
    I felt so exposed.
    “He smiled!” Nina added, and her words changed the situation entirely.
    I looked straight into Nina’s eyes, then to Clarissa’s. “He smiled? Really? A nice smile or a disgusted smile?”
    Clarissa looked at Nina questioningly. “Mmm, hard to say.”
    “No,” Nina disagreed, “it was definitely a nice smile.”

    “Don’t get her hopes up,” Clarissa said as though I weren’t standing right there.
    At that moment the music was hushed and our principal’s voice blared through the speakers, “The next song is going to be our last, so let’s see everyone out on the dance floor. And be safe on your way home.”
    A romantic song started as everyone around me began to break off into pairs. Nina and Clarissa were asked to dance before the introduction was over, leaving me standing alone waiting for Trace to find me in the crowd. I could feel my face starting to get hot as the singer began the first verse. I wondered how long the song was, and I wondered how long I should wait for Trace. I had just about given up when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I stopped breathing as I slowly turned around. It was Jess.
    “Hey,” he smiled apologetically, “I know I’m not the person you wanted to see right now, but-“
    Before he could finish, I threw my arms around his neck. “I couldn’t be happier to see you!” I squeezed him so hard. Maybe I was holding on for dear life. I knew that if I let go I would slip into the most humiliating experience of my life.
    Jess grimaced when I finally let go of his neck. “No Trace, huh?”
    I shook my head.
    “Well, I know I said I would never dance the last dance, but I figure-“
    “I would love to!” I quickly stepped toward Jess, but he stepped away as quickly as I moved in. “What’s wrong?” I felt a pang of embarrassment flash through my body. Maybe he hadn’t been asking me to dance after all.
    “We can’t dance right here.”
    I looked around me. We were in the back of the gymnasium right by the punch table. The only people around us were teachers and a couple of uncomfortable and un-asked seventh graders. “Okay, where should we go then?” I was afraid of his answer. If I knew Jess as well as I thought I did he’d want us to go out on the soccer field away from the rest of the crowd. So I was surprised when he pointed to the front of the room where the ninth graders were packed together. “Up there? There’s no room!”

    “Sure there is. Besides, we have to let this Trace kid know what he’s