by Emma Knight
Rachel woke up to a buzzing sound coming from her phone.
1 New Message:
Emily: Bring your stuff for the dance to school; I’m having a “getting ready” party at my place after school.
She rubbed her eyes and reread the message. Rachel felt a sudden pang of nervousness. It was her first school dance and she had nobody to go with. Part of her didn’t want to go to the dance, but she knew she had to go with Emily. She didn’t want to let her down.
Rachel: Ok, I’ll do that.
Rachel looked out the window and it was raining. The rain depressed her and made her want to curl up in bed, and not go to school or the dance. She also felt depressed because of Benji. She had never had these kinds of feeling before for a guy. She knew her feelings were real and she didn’t know what to do. Would she ever see him again?
She looked at her watch and realized she was running late. She quickly bolted out of bed, searched through her closet for a dress to wear to the dance, threw some makeup in a bag and ran downstairs for breakfast. She hoped she wasn’t forgetting anything.
“What’s in the bag?” Sarah said.
“My dress for the dance tonight,” Rachel answered.
“I got the cutest dress at the Westchester Mall yesterday, you’re gonna die when you see it tonight,” Sarah said.
Rachel suddenly thought her dress wasn’t going to be good enough. She didn’t realize the dance was a big deal or warranted a “new” dress.
“I’m wearing the one I wore to the Easter Parade last year,” Rachel said.
“You are?” Sarah looked at her in surprise.
“Um, I don’t have anything else, and it’s too late now to go shopping. It’s my only option,” Rachel said back.
“All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Sarah said, peeking into her duffle.
The dress that Rachel packed was teal, with big pink and orange flowers all over it. She knew it wasn’t the most fashionable dress, but she didn’t see what the big deal was. It was only a homecoming school dance -- not the prom!
Feeling a little self-conscious, Rachel hopped into the car and headed to school. As her mom drove down the street, Rachel saw cars that had been painted red white and blue and said, “Go Tigers!” on the windows. Rachel suddenly realized that homecoming was a big deal at this school.
She remembered her homecoming dance at her school in Pennsylvania. It was the lamest thing, and most people didn’t even go. Rachel had figured that it would be like that up in Bedford, but she was clearly mistaken.
As she entered school, the school spirit and positive energy filled the hallway. Everyone seemed excited for the big homecoming dance and she heard chatter about it as she passed groups of friends in the hallway.
“I’m so excited, Chris just asked me to be his date!”
“I’m going with Brian, he’s so hot.”
“Jason asked me a week ago! I can’t wait for tonight.”
Rachel heard girls gossiping about their dates and she felt a little left out. She didn’t expect that she would have a date, being the new girl and all, but still.
Rachel caught herself looking for Benji in the hallways again, but didn’t see him. She felt sure he was in school somewhere, but didn’t know where. She wished she had remembered to ask him where his homeroom was, but she’d forgotten.
Rachel slid through the door of Mr. Allen’s class with a few minutes to spare. She sat down and watched as the kids started filing in and finding their seats. She saw Rob enter and sit in the chair next to her.
“Hey, you going to the dance?” Rob said.
“Yup,” Rachel answered.
“You have a date yet?”
“Going with the girls,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, I’m going with the guys. Save me a dance, OK?” Rob said with a smile.
“We’ll see,” replied Rachel.
Rachel was taken back by Rob’s comment. Was he insane? Did he really think she was going to save him a dance after what he did to her? Rachel was shocked, and didn’t know what to make of it. She’d wish Emily had been there to hear it, but she walked in late.
The class began and Mr. Allen started talking about Helen Keller, another important woman in history. She was interested in Helen Keller, but found herself zoning out and thinking about Benji.
Rachel couldn’t get Benji out of her head. She tried to make sense of him, but couldn’t figure out why he called himself “different.” She remembered their night at Rye Playland. She thought about Benji using supernatural strength to save her life and tried to convince herself that that was normal. She wanted him to be “normal,” to be like her, but deep down, she knew he wasn’t. What was he?