The Spring Ball

"Thank you Mrs. Franklin!" Sadie, Riley, and Monica all exclaimed as they jumped out from the backseat of my mom's car.

"Thanks, mom," I said with a sight of fear. "See you at eight," I said, and opened the car door.

"Hey. Don't worry," My mom told me, resting her hand on my shoulder. I let go of the handle and looked back at her. "Go have fun," She said, a smile forming across her face. I think she could tell I was nervous. I smiled back at her, reassuring her that I was okay. I re-opened the door and stepped out, and it whirred as it drove out of the lot.

Woah. I looked up at what used to be our perfectly average, day-lit middle school entrance, was now, in my mind, a brightly lit ballroom, standing alone in the darkening sky. There were flowers, chicks, eggs, everything you could imagine in a spring wonderland. Oh my goodness. I couldn't believe it was finally happening- the spring ball! The one night every girl at Walsh Junior High dreams about. And everyone has the exact same vision- getting dropped off right alongside your best friends, then going inside and grabbing punch and Cadbury Creme Eggs, and dancing on the gym floor under the arrays of streamers until Mrs. Reilly finally shuts down all our fun at 8pm. Except there was one problem for me- the actual "best friends." You see, my friends are... not...like me? They're all pretty, popular, flowery girly girls- but I'm just... me. They're all perfect, whereas my only good quality is being able to juggle basketballs. No, really. I went to clown camp the summer before the sixth grade. But seriously! No one will ever want to be friends with a four-foot-eleven, curly-red-haired, freckle-faced freak like me. Like, literally, I-

"Savannah!" I flinched, my thoughts being interrupted. "Savannah! Come on!" I jumped and looked up, and saw my friends had already got into the dance, while I just stood outside, spaced out. I ran to catch up with them, and gave my ticket to Mrs. Ruth, who was working the ticket stand.

 "What were you doing?" Sadie asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said shyly.

"Oh... well alright."

"Hey, let's go grab some punch!" Riley exclaimed, grabbing Sadie and Monica's hand. They jumped and ran to the drink table. "You coming?" she yelled back at me as they turned to me, after they had already gotten to the table and grabbed their drinks.

"Oh, uh... yeah," I said, speed walking over to them. I picked up a cup of strawberry kiwi juice and continued walking with my friends, my head down. I continued walking, staring at my dirty white converse as they paced along the speckled linoleum gym floor. 

“Jeez!” He exclaimed as I bumped into him. I looked up to see my drink stained all over my white cardigan, the gym floor, and Trey Langley’s, who I had just walked into, blue collared shirt. “Watch where you’re going, will ya?” He exasperated. I didn’t even get a chance to apologize before he flounced away, his friends following. I looked around to see every single kid on the dance floor staring directly at me. I felt blood rushing to my cheeks, and ran out of the gym. I rushed down the hall, and flung the metal bathroom door open. I scurried into a stall, and plopped down on the cold metal toilet, and buried my head in my hands. Cold tears flooded into my palms, and I tried to quiet my echoing sobs from being heard all the way in the hallway. I heard the door creak open, and I lifted my head from my hands, wiping my pool of tears that rested in my palms onto my goosebump-covered thighs. 

“Hello?” I heard calling in a sweet voice. “Is anyone in here?” I wiped my face and stood up, trying to hide the fact I was just balling like a baby. I opened the stall door, and walked over to the sink to wash my hands, trying to avoid looking at the girl, worried she would see I was just crying.

“Hey,” I sighed, trying to hide any emotion from reaching my almost-cracked voice. I took a quick glance at her.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her eyebrows ruffling, and her hands nervously playing with her lacy aqua dress

“Yeah.” I said, finally starting to calm down. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Oh,” she said, as she looked down and tucked a lock of her curly brown hair behind her ear. “I’m Eva, by the way,” She said after a second of silence, her head suddenly perking up.

“I’m Savannah,” I said as I turned off the sink. “Are you in sixth grade? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”

“Yeah. So you’re in seventh?” She responded.

“Yep!” I said, finally starting to forget what had just happened. She nodded, as if she wasn’t sure what to say next.

"Why aren't you at the party?" She asked, confused.

Not wanting to tell her the real reason why, I told her, "Oh, it just got kinda boring," I shrugged. "Nothing much to do after a while"

“You're right. To be honest, this party’s not living up to its hype. My friend and I were actually going to ditch and go to Spoonful’s and get fro-yo, wanna come?”

“Yeah, lemme just text my mom and tell her.”

“Okay, come on!” She exclaimed. She grabbed my hand and we ran out to the parking lot giggling like we had been friends for years. We rushed through the dim hallway to the side exit, not even passing through the dance just to exit. We ran through the street, and she led me to a gray minivan parked right at the front, and she opened the door to reveal her mom smiling in the drivers side, and another girl already strapped into the far seat. We jumped in, and the car sped away.

“I’m Savannah,” I said to the other girl with a smile.

She smiled back, revealing her little dimples that fell perfectly in line with her light-washed freckles. "I'm Lauren."