• I lay in bed, wide awake. I did all there is to do in my room; I studied, beat all my high score on all my video games, I even cleaned my room to spotless. I looked at the window. There wasn’t a screen so I could sneak out. I opened the window and as quietly as possible, crawled through and closed the window till there was a small crack.
    At first I just went around the neighborhood, but was soon in town. Of course the down town part of Pittsboro was really small, so I didn’t get very far, but I was still out of the house.
    “Olivia!” I heard the squeal of Katelyn’s voice which was way too peppy and far full of false enthusiasm. I turned and saw her heavy makeup and then some of the face under it, “What in the world are you doing out here! You don’t have any life outside of your books!”
    Katelyn was a prep- no not a prep. The prep. She was the typical cheerleader with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.
    “I was just about to ask you the same thing, but then I realized I don’t care”, I snapped.
    “Oh. Well then”, she said, and then she smiled, “I have an idea!”
    “Wow”, I said with sarcasm, “That must be quite the experience for you.”
    Katelyn screamed with a horrible laugh, “No, silly! I was wondering if you want to come to a party at my house tomorrow! It’ll be so fun! EVERYONE will be there.”
    “Ummm…” Why would Katelyn be asking me to her party? She would be worried that my gothness would rub off on them. I was curious to see how it would play out when I got there so I said, “Okay. I’ll go.”
    “Yay!” Katelyn squealed and pranced away.
    I decided that this would be enough for tonight and went home. I finally went to sleep thinking about that party. She said that everyone was going to be there so that could mean all my friends too. Then I won’t be so lonely and uncomfortable. I dreamed that I would see Jake and we would become something. Something much more than friends. But that was a longshot. I really need to stop daydreaming.
    I woke up and looked in my closet. What was I going to wear? I usually don’t care but if Jake was going to be there then I wanted to look good. I got an e-mail for the party. It starts at 7:30 sharp. It’s also a very nice party, like with pretty dresses and stuff.
    I chose a dress with lots of skirts. It was black with a red ribbon tied right below the chest in the back with lace starting under the ribbon. I slipped it on and put my makeup for smoky black eye shadow and blood red lipstick. At seven I put on my blood red lace gloves, my black lace tights, and my red high heels. I looked in the mirror and in my opinion, I looked pretty damn hot.
    Mom drove me to her house and I got out. It looked like everyone was already there. I checked my phone and it said that the party started at 7, even though I got the text only 5 minutes ago. That’s odd, I thought. I blew it off and walked to the door. I rang the doorbell and heard Katelyn’s voice laugh and call out, “Come in!”
    I walked in and automatically was drenched in ice water. My eyes widened in shock; laughter rang out. I looked at a crowd of well-dressed people laughing at me. There was Katelyn by the door with her friend holding now empty buckets.
    Hailey, Payton, Nathan, Austen, and worst of all, Jake ran to the front of the crowd. I felt the tears sting in my eyes.
    I bolted. I pulled my shoes off and continued to run. By the time I got home, my mom and dad had already left to go on their date so I was locked out. I went to my window and pulled it up and crawled in. I got on my bed and pulled off my tights, gloves, and the rest of my smeared makeup so I was just wearing my dress.
    I lay in bed, not even covering myself with blankets, even though I knew I wouldn’t sleep at all. I turned to the wall and stretched out. After about an hour I heard the window slide open. I stayed completely still, even though I knew it was just Jake. I could picture Jake’s long legs fitting through the window, ducking through.
    “I know you’re not asleep”, Jake said. I still stayed still. I was too embarrassed to see anyone right then. The end of my bed sagged like someone sat on it. Then, next I knew, he stood up and picked me up bridal style, and set me down upright. I didn’t know he was strong-which he wasn’t- but he was strong enough to lift me up for a moment. He grabbed me in his arms and held me close. I hugged him back and we stayed like that for so long. I didn’t mind though. We could have stayed like that forever and I wouldn’t mind. And that’s just what we did.