Zawadi
uses taking Dazzle for a walk as an excuse to leave the house and put her plan
in motion.
She
in fact does have someone in mind as her prom date and today is the day that
she will ask him to attend with her.
Before
Zawadi gets a chance to knock on the door, a boy that looks a lot like Mitchell
steps out.
“You must be Mitchell’s brother. Is he home?” Zawadi asks.
“Yeah,
I’m Michael,” the boys says offering his hand for Zawadi to shake. “Mitch is in there playing video games as
always,” he says in a frustrated voice.
Zawadi
isn’t sure how to respond, so she proceeds to walk up and ring the doorbell.
Zawadi’s
stomach does a flip as Mitchell walks out.
“Hi,”
she says, suddenly feeling shy.
“Hi,” Mitchell says echoing Zawadi’s tone.
There’s
an uncomfortable silence as they each search their minds for what else they
should say. Zawadi fills it by offering
her hand in an awkward manner. “Uh…nice
to see you again,” she says, not sure how to get through this odd moment.
Finally,
Mitchell invites her in.
“So,
do you know what school you’re attending yet?” Zawadi asks referring to their
last conversation.
“No. My mom finally decided to make the final
decision for us. We’ll find out
tomorrow.” Mitchell says, clearly uncomfortable at having his fate decided by
his mother.
“Well,
I’ll show you around tomorrow if you end up at my school,” Zawadi offers. “I could also introduce you to people and
stuff.”
“Yeah,
Ok.” Mitchell says
Another moment of silence fills the room as Zawadi tries to gather up enough courage to ask Mitchell to be her date for the prom.
Not
sure how to bring it up, Zawadi resorts to a safer conversation topic. “So what are you up to
today?”
“Oh, just playing video games.”
“Cool.” Zawadi says, dissapointed that Mitchell
didn’t have much else to say about it.
Finally she decides that she might as well ask Mitchell about the prom. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Mitchell answers.
“It’s
no big deal or anything, so feel free to say no, but…uh, my school has this
stupid dance coming up and…well…”Zawadi pauses.
Finally
she decides to just blurt it out, “Will you come to the prom with me?” She says in a rush of words.
Mitchell
appears shocked and doesn’t say anything immediately.
“Like I said, it’s no big deal,” Zawadi says to soften the blow in case he says no.
Zawadi
continues jabbering away to avoid rejection, “It won’t be like a date or
anything. It’ll be like-”
“Sure…sounds
cool,” Mitchell finally says,
interrupting Zawadi’s rambling.
“Really?”
Zawadi says revealing more surprise than she intended.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? Sounds like fun.”
Again,
an involuntary smile creeps up on Zawadi’s face. He said yes, she thinks to
herself.
If
Mitchell wasn’t standing there, Zawadi would be jumping up and down, but the
situation forces her to contain her excitement.
“Cool,” she says trying to sound like it’s no big deal, which is hard,
because her heart is pounding out of her chest.
“What
should I wear?” Mitchell asks, stepping forward slightly.
His proximity makes it hard for Zawadi to think for a few moments. “I’m wearing blue,” she finally answers. “Anything that goes with blue would be good.”
“Should
I pick you up at your house?”
Zawadi doesn’t immediately answer. His slight breath on her cheek makes her dizzy.
She
closes her eyes briefly in order to steady herself. When she opens them, she answers.
“Uh…yeah. Tuesday at 6,” she says.
“Ok,”
he says, staring at her in a way that makes her look away.
Zawadi changes the subject. “So…show me what video game you were playing.”
Mitchell
suddenly becomes animated. “Oh, you have
to check this one out,” he says as he leads her to two gaming chairs situated
in front of a flat screen TV.
Mitchell
shows Zawadi how to play. She proceeds
to beat him the first time around.
“Beginner’s
luck!” Mitchell calls out.
Zawadi’s competitive streak kicks in. “Only losers say that,” she says and they both laugh.
