"Kids! I'm home!"

I groggily put my pillow over my head and turn over to face the other wall.

"Jordan! Jacob! Oh, hello, George!" My moms voice echoes through the house. "Ray, so nice to see you again."

I groan and attempt to block out the sound. Curse you, mother. It should be illegal to wake up this early. I doubt the rooster's even awake.

"Jordan, get up! It's almost noon!" Mom calls.

Ah, be quiet and leave me alone. Please and thank you.

And I fly into the air, screaming. I look around frantically to find that Ray has jumped onto my bed and is now laying on his back, staring at me as I have a heart attack.

"What was that for?" I demand.

"Your mom is here and wants to say hi," he says with a smile.

"The blizzard?"

"Blew over," Ray shrugs.

"Jordan, get down here or I'll kick your butt!" My mom yells. "I haven't seen you turds for two days!"

I groan and slide out of bed, stretching my arms over my head. I put on my fuzzy slippers and head down the stairs, Ray beside me.

"Hi mom," I say, walking into the kitchen with a yawn.

"You've got to stop sleeping so long," my mom says without turning away from the window. "It's unhealthy. Haven't I told you the saying-"

"Mom, I've heard the saying," I sigh.

"Right, right."

"How was staying at work for two days?" I ask.

"Terrible. I hope they pay me overtime for that," mom sighs.

"Yeah, right."

"Quite an adventure."

"If you don't mind, I'm going to head back upstairs because I'm actually still really-"

"No, you're going to say goodbye to your friend because his dad called earlier, pretty nervous," mom stops me.

Ray smiles at me. I give him a blank look.

"Adios," and I turn to walk back up the stairs.

"Jordan Olivia Green!" My mom wails. "You get down here this instant and apologize for your lack of manners."

Ooh, there's the full name. Things just got serious.

"Sorry for my lack of manners, Ray," I mumble. "Bye."

I peer through the kitchen window and see that it snowing lightly. But the roads are packed with snow, obviously not plowed yet.

"Mom, Ray's car can't get through that!" I cry, before Ray can leave.

"Aw, thanks for caring," Ray says, "but I think I'll be okay."

"No! You have a freaking Honda Civic for heavens sake! That's almost a foot of snow!"

"Don't hurt its feelings," Ray frowns. "It likes to try hard things."

"Jordan, stop being over dramatic," my mom rolls her eyes. "Ray, will you be alright?"

Ray nods. "Yes, thanks Miss Green."

I wave and he smiles before walking out the door. Ugh, this means I have to go to school tomorrow. What day is it, Wenesday? And.... Holy guac and chips, Friday's the dance.

"Be back in a minute, mom. Gotta call Sierra," I hurry up to my room and dig through my bedding trying to find my phone. This is what I get, staying on it all night long.

Aha! Found it. Dial dial dial....

"Ah, hey Jordan!" Sierra's cheerful voice calls through the phone.

"Hello, Sierra. Nice to talk, how are you? That's good. I need your help."

Sierra laughs. "Hold up, slow down. Help for what?"

I sigh and press a hand to my forehead. I suddenly have a terrible headache.

"I need to go dress shopping."

**********************************

"I thought I would never see this day," Sierra sighs, cranking up the heat in her car.

"Oh, shut up," I roll my eyes.

My parents, my friends, my brother, everyone teams up on me about getting a boyfriend. Leave me alone! I am perfectly content with being single.

"Okay, okay. Here we go," Sierra parks the truck she got from her dad on her birthday next to some old minivan and stops the car. We both hop out, grab ours purses and head towards the store.

I step into a warm shop with more dresses than I have ever seen in my life combined. So many choices... But these all probably cost as much as my house.

My mom, very kindly, offered to buy me this dress. She's more excited about this than I am.

I hear straight towards the blues and purples. Those look pretty, oooh. I walk around admiring the dresses for a few minutes. I probably look like a five year old in here. Sparrrklllyyy....

"Jordan, how's this?" Sierra holds up a bright pink knee length dress to herself. That is definitely fitting for her...

"That would look amazing," I nod to her.

"Try it on!"

My eyes widen in shock. "No, no, no. I meant for you!"

"Really?" She asks. I nod.

She laughs. "Okay, I guess I'll try it on... Only since you begged me." She winks at me. I roll my eyes.

As she makes her way into the dressing room, I get back to examining the possible dress choices. Too long. Too dark. Too short. Too showy. Too flashy. Ew, is that even legal? That hurts my eyes, that one is tiny. That one's too see-through. That looks like its made for a ninety year old funeral dress. That looks like a church gathering dress.

Ohhh, I like that mint color.

I think I shall try this on.

I grab it off the hanger and take it off in the direction Sierra was headed in. To the dressing rooms. The lady giving us the 'OK' to go into the changing room nods and I enter.

I always feel all self conscious when I change my clothes in these stalls because I always feel like they put cameras in here or something.

When I have finished putting it on, with some difficulty zipping it up by myself, I stand back to admire it in the mirror.

The knee length dress looks beautiful. It flows down in layers and has a design of Rhine stones following down into a belt of the sparkly gems. It looks breathtaking.

A knock at the door.

"Jordan? You ready to show?" That's Sierra.

I open up the door and before me stands a life size Barbie doll. I stare, mouth open, in awe. She seems to be doing the same.

"Wow..." She says. And we both start laughing.

"Okay, you have got to get that dress!" I tell Sierra.

"Only if you agree to get that one!" She laughs.

I nod. Hold out my hand. She shakes it. "It's a deal then."

And we walk out of the store feeling all cool with our dresses in the bags. I've always wondered what this feels like.

***********************************

'I will warn you now, my mom looooves taking pictures.'

'Hey, same here. They can be share-all-my-precious-photos buddies!' -Ray

I laugh, shaking my head. 'That would be fun.'

'For them.' -Ray

'Yeah, they'd end up taking and/or sending embarrassing pictures all the time.'

'Yeeaaaahhhh about that, lets not talk about photography when they meet each other...' -Ray

'Good plan.'

"Who ya textin'?" Jacob leans over my shoulder.

I swat him away from me and hold my phone out of his reach. And of course George is on the other side, and snatches it from me. It's official. I need a force field.

An electrocution, taser force field.

"Give it back," I groan. But I don't get up, I'm never desperate enough to get active.

"Ray, huh? Oh, look, Jacob! 'What color's the famous dress thou shalt wear?' From Ray. 'Minty green blueish sort of light.' From Jordan."

Jacob nods. "Descriptive."

"You're going to a dance with him?" George raises his eyebrows.

I can feel myself blushing. Swell. "Yes..." I answer slowly. They can sense fear.

Jacob's eyes widen. "Is he your boyfriend?"

My mouth hangs open. My eyes widen. "What? No!" I answer too quickly.

"But she wants him to be," George nods.

"Wha-"

"Ah, speaks too quickly. That's a sign," Jacob also nods.

"Signs? What is this a lie detecting interr-"

"Denial."

"Shut your faces!" I scream.

"Jordan! Language!" My mom hollers from the kitchen.

I narrow my eyes at the two of them. "Give me my phone or I swear I will rip your throats out and slap you in the face with them."

"Oh, feisty," George laughs.

"You think I'm kidding?" I quirk an eyebrow. "Try me."

George turns to Jacob, eyebrows raised. Jacob shrugs. "I don't know, man. She can be unpredictable. And violent."

I smirk. Good, I've got that reputation. Nobody will mess with me. I am an unstoppable ninja. Come at me, bro.

George hands me my phone. "Thank you," I nod to him.

And the two of them burst out laughing. I stare at them, confused. "What did you do?"

My phone, what did he do?!

I type in my pass code, 'El Taco,' and scroll through my texts. Wait, what's that? I don't think I sent-

"HOW DARE YOU, YOU FILTHY SQUIRREL OF DEATH! I WILL STAB YOU WITH A SPOON AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!" I scream, running towards George.

"How come you assume that was me?" George yells, running away from me.

"You were the only one holding the phone, you idiot!" I screech.

I jump off the couch and onto George's back, taking him by surprise and we both end up on the floor. I'm on top of him. I slap his shoulder repeatedly and punch him and knee his sides.

"Gosh, it was one text!" George defends, curling into a ball.

I climb of of him and scowl. "Yeah, one text that says, 'I've been in love with you since I first stalked your social media profiles and set your pictures as my wallpaper on every technological device I own. It's a very deep feeling.' Gosh, I will KILL you!"

And they both burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs. "So... Funny... I'm going... To die..." George says between laughs.

"Heck yes, you are. By my hands!" I frown at them. Stupid, stupid stupid, you're all stupid. This is all a joke. This is a pile of baloney in the middle of the ocean. I hate everyone.

Dialing Ray's number.... Connecting.....

"Jor?"

I suck in a breath. "Okay, that text I sent? Yeah that wasn't me. That was Jacob and George being huge idiots and I am sorry for disturbing your delightful evening with their foolishness. They thought it was sooo funny to send that, but you know how stupid they can be. Sorry about that. And by the way, none of that is true, I have never stalked you. I mean, let alone look through your photos! I am not a creep, I swear! And also, I'm sure-"

"Jordan, relax," Ray laughs. "It's okay. I get it."

I let out a breath of relief. "That's great."

"But, I mean, I wouldn't put it past you to be a little stalkerish," Ray laughs.

I scowl, even though he can't see me. "You're a jerk, you know? A fat, stupid, really strange and nerdy jerk."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Way to compliment a guy."

"Always love to deflate an ego, what are your hobbies?"

Ray laughs. "Hey, it's getting late, I've got to go. See you at school tomorrow."

I groan. School. Ew. "Right. Bye."

And we hang up. Tomorrow. School. Blah.