25. WINTER FORMAL
Kraig picked me up for the dance and headed to the restaurant for dinner. Usually, if the crew went someplace together, we carpooled. Since this was a dance, and for the couples, it was a real date, all the pairs drove separately. We arrived at the restaurant and saw that Bobby and Emily were already there. They sat at one end of the table set for 10. Kraig and I sat across from them.
“So, Liz, when is the Holiday Music Concert?” Bobby asked.
“Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.” I replied.
“Wow! That soon. This month is going by so fast.” Emily was surprised.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” I couldn’t believe it either. I didn’t feel ready for the concert.
Kraig asked, “Is it going to be all Christmas songs?”
“No. Not all, some. We’ll be doing stuff from musicals and non-traditional stuff.” I told them just as Patrick and Becca got to our table.
“Hey, guys.” Patrick said as he sat down next to me, with Becca sitting next to him. Bobby, Emily, Kraig and I greeted them. “You guys talking about Liz’s concert next week?”
“It’s not my concert.” I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head.
“But you are in it.” Kraig pointed out.
“And you have a couple solos.” Bobby added. Great, the guys were tag-teaming and ganging up on me.
“So…to us, it’s your concert.” Emily concluded.
“Exactly!” Patrick exclaimed, pointing to Emily. Jason, Cassie, Tony, and his date Karen sat down at the table. We all exchanged quick hellos and nods. “So, everyone’s going. Right?” Everyone, except Becca and Karen, nodded. Becca would rather go without Patrick for the night than to go. That’s how much she didn’t want to go—she’d actually willingly let him out of her sight. As if her not going would be some protest to me singing. As if I cared. Karen, however, was a little lost.
Emily filled in Karen, “Liz is in the choir and they are having a concert next week. She’s good. You should come with! It’ll be fun!”
“Sure. Sounds good.” Karen responded. The crew talked about what night to go to and decided to come to Wednesday’s performance.
Now that everyone had arrived, we started looking through our menus. Some of the crew had eaten here before, so suggestions were asked and given to each other.
Kraig asked me, “What are you getting?”
I closed my menu and told him, “I’m not sure. I’m not very hungry.” Patrick heard me and shot me a look. “But I guess I should eat something, who knows what snacks they might have at the dance.” I reopened my menu to take another look. I decided to get the ravioli with tomato cream sauce that Cassie had recommended.
The server came by and took everyone’s order. While we waited for our food, our conversations drifted to many things from classes and teachers, to music, to the guys’ basketball games, to movies, to the weirdest thing anyone ever ate. We got some looks from nearby customers, since our laughter and voices tended to get loud—after all there were ten of us. When our food arrived, our volume lowered a bit as everyone ate, or attempted to between laughs and stories.
Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1) Page 62