Zora POV

I was in the kitchen with Geoffrey and Carlton as Carlton was doing a checklist of things he needed for the Harvest Dance

"Well, Geoffrey, Zora it looks like I'm all ready for the harvest dance. Tux, check, shoes, check and a pure silk, hand-stitched pocket square." Carlton said

"Exquisite." Geoffrey told him as Will walked eating a peach

"Man. Yo, this is definitely peach season, man." Will said as he put the peach in the pocket square then he blew his nose

"Will, that's disgusting!" Carlton told him as he looked confused

"What?" He asked as Carlton picked it up with a pair of tongs

"Could you please clean this for me, Geoffrey?" Carlton asked

"I would prefer an assassin's bullet
to this kind of living hell." Geoffrey said as he walked out the kitchen 

"Yo, I think G's drawers must be bunchin' again." Will said

"So have you guys got a date to the dance yet?" I asked them as we walked into the living room

"I will when I call Claudia." Will told us

"Claudia? As in head cheerleader? Why don't you just ask Sinead O'Connor?" Carlton told him

"I did, but she had to wash her hair." Will told us we sat down and I sat on the arm of the couch Carlton was sitting on as the doorbell rang

"That's probably your date to the Lakers game. Why don't you just take her to the dance?" I asked

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. First of all, it's not a date. She's comin' to pick up her ticket
and then she's gonna go. Man, I'm not down
with that blind-date stuff. Every time they get here, they look like..." He told us as he trailed off

"Yo, man. Where's my date?" He asked running to the door as Geoffrey walked in with Will's date

"Ms. Denise Williams." Geoffrey said. She looks a lot like Melissa Redman

"Hi. I'm Dee Dee. I can't believe we got center court floor seats to the Lakers game.
That's my team. I know they're gonna kick butt tonight. Don't you think?" She said as Will just stared at her

"Hello? I know they don't walk in LA. But I at least hoped they talked." She told him

"I'm-I'm Will, and this is my cousin, Carlton and our friend Zora." Will said

"Hi." Carlton and I told her

"Can you do that and walk at the same time?" She asked Will

"That's darn clever." Carlton said as we got up and walked over to them

"So, Dee Dee, uh, what school do you go to?" I asked

"Well, I just moved--" she said as Will cut her off

"Uh, listen, Dee Dee..You know what, I don't think I'm gonna be able to take you to that game, right, see cause I got all this stuff piled
in my car, it probably wouldn't be enough room for you. I mean, I mean, I mean, not just you, um, anybody." Will rambled

"What are you talking about?" She asked him

"Um..Our, uh, our blind date to the game." He told her

"Blind date? No, see, I don't do blind dates.
I mean, you think it's gonna be Mr. Right
and then it ends up being some tall, skinny guy with big ears and weird clothes. I mean, not just you, anybody." She said as Carlton and I chuckled

"Well, lo-look, here you go. Here's your ticket.
Um, hey, maybe I'll see you at the game."

"You probably will. I'll be the one in the seat next to you shouting my phone number
to Magic Johnson. Bye, Carlton, Zora.  I'll see you later." She said as she left

"I hope Magic ate his Wheaties." Will told Carlton and I

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The next day after school I ran into the Banks kitchen smiling as I saw Will and DeeDee

"You guys guess what something amazing wonderful just happened to me. John Holderson asked me to the dance. Oh yeah." I yelled excitedly

"John Holderson I don't know Zee I heard he's a big player" Will told me

"I don't know who you're talking to you big hypocrite" I told him as Dee Dee oohed

"Woah she called you the H word" Dee Dee told him 

"Anyway I believe people can change have some faith sometime" I told him as I put my bag down

"This is the best day ever" I said smiling grabbing an apple

"This is the worst day ever" Carlton said coming into the kitchen

"What happened Boo" I asked

"This is just fine and dandy. The cleaners shrunk my tux." Carlton said showing us the tux

"Oh, Carlton, man, you can wear that, just put it on and say "Boss, da plane, da plane!" Will joked

"Why don't you just rent a tux?" Dee Dee asked him

"Do you know him" I asked her as Carlton scoffed

"Oh, great. Wear used clothes. Why don't I just go pitch a tent under a freeway and eat cold beans with a stick?" He said sarcastically as he walked out as Dee Dee looked at me

"How do you deal with them" she asked referring to Will and Carlton

"I don't know she days are better than most" I told her shrugging

I grabbed my bag and walked out the kitchen as Carlton walked up to me

"So Zora you go a date for the dance" he asked me 

"Yes Josh Holderson asked me isn't that exciting" I asked smiling

"Oh yeah yeah I'm so happy for you" he told me as we sat down

"So do you have a date yet" I asked

"Of course I do its um Kelly Summers" He told me as I smiled

"Wow Kelly Summers good for you" I told him as he nodded

"Yeah good for me" he mumbled

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The next day we were all sitting on the patio as Carlton walked up to Will and I

"There is a hex on me, all the tuxes that are halfway acceptable in this town have been
rented. My shoes, which I put outside for a final Scotch-guarding were carried off by a Labrador retriever. What else could go wrong?" Carlton told us

"How about that big old zit on your nose?" Will asked as he screamed and ran away

"Hey, look, I'm finished with my hoagie, Aunt Viv. I'mma go meet Dee Dee for a pizza." Will said

"Dee Dee? Oh, is that who you're taking to the dance?" Mrs. Banks asked

"Oh, no, no, no, Aunt Viv. See, it's not like that with me and Dee Dee. We're just buddies. I'm going with Claudia Prescott.
Mm! That girl built to take all my money."  Wil said

"Hm, I like Dee Dee. She's fun." Ashley told him

"And she's cute, but I'm worried about her cholesterol level." Hilary said

"Alright, I'll see y'all later." He said got up and he left

"So Zora who are you taking to the dance" Ashley asked me but I knew why she was doing it she was trying to figure out about the triangle

"If you must know I'm going with Josh Holderson" I said smiling

"Really how do you feel about Will taking Claudia and Carlton taking Kelly" Hilary asked

"I'm very happy for them" I told her as we just fake smiled at each other as Mrs. Banks looked between us

"What's going on girls" Mrs. Banks asked

"Nothing" we all told her

"Yes really. Now if you excuse me I have to go get my dress from the cleaners" I said getting up

"Tick Tick Tick" Ashley said making a clock with her arms as I left

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I walked into the Banks kitchen Dee Dee told me what happened between her and Will how can he say that but don't worry I  gave him a good scolding

The phone rang as Will ran over to answer it as he picked it up

"Dee Dee?" He asked

"Hold on. It's for you, man." Will said giving the phone to Carlton

"Hello? Oh, hi, Kelly. All ready for tomorrow
night's big soiree? What do you mean you can't go? What kind of medical reason?
A pimple? Kelly, that's no reason to stay home. Look, I have a pimple. Actually, I have two. Hello?" He said as he put the phone on the line

"That's it. My life is cursed. No tux, no shoes, no date. Okay, okay, don't panic. There's got to be someone I can call. But what kind of girl
is sitting home without a date for a Saturday night? Oh!" Carlton said as he walked out the kitchen

"A great girl." Will said as I walked up to him and hugged him putting my head on his shoulder

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It was Saturday night and time for the dance as I walked down the stairs as my grandfather turned to me with his video camera

"You look so beautiful baby. I promise myself I wouldn't cry" he said fanning his face over dramatically as I laughed 

"PaPa" I said

"Here come the waterworks" he said crying as he left to go get a tissue I playfully shook my head

"Well all I have to do is wait for Josh and head out on my way" I said as I sat down on the couch and began flipping through a magazine

I looked at the clock and noticed 30 minutes had gone by as I read another magazine

"I'm going to play cards with Geoffrey lock the door when you go" my grandfather told me as I nodded

After a while I had a deck full of magazines as I noticed it was 9:00 as my grandfather walked in

"Zo, your still here" he asked sitting next to me

"Yep" I said nodding

"Oh what time did the dance start" he asked

"2 hours ago" I told him

"Oh well maybe something happened" he told me

"Something did happen I got stood up" I said as I began crying as he wrapped his arms around me 

I should of listen to Will I was so stupid to think a player would change their ways

"Oh honey. You want me to go beat him up for you" he asked

"No I don't want you going to jail" I told him as he caressed my face

"I would die for you" he told me kissing my head

"Why would he do this to me" I asked 

"I don't know baby. People do stupid things sometime but I do know he's missing out on an amazing night with an amazing girl" he told me

"What do I do now" I asked

"Well you could sit here and sulk for the rest of the night or you could go to that dance" he told me giving me his keys as I smiled 

"Thanks PaPa" I said

"Your welcome baby" he said kissing my cheek

I walked through the doors of the dance as everyone turned to me

"Continue your festivities" I said as I looked around and I saw Josh there with a group of people as I took a deep breath and walked over to him

"I thought you didn't want to go to the dance" I said

"Oh I did just not with you" he said as he laughed then walked away as my blood began boiling

"Don't you walk away from me. I sat at my house waiting on you for 2 hours" I said turning him around

"Listen a couple guys and I made a bet to see if I would ask you out and I did." He said as my heart broke and I didn't know what to do

"Now if you excuse me I would like to continue having fun and you should really do something with that" he said pointing my afro as I walked out the gym and began crying

I was so embarrassed usually I have fire but tonight it was burned out. Why did I come here? Why did I talk to him? This is the worst night of my life

I sat in the hallway as I hugged my knees as Will and Carlton ran out the gym and sat next to me

"Hey It's okay" Will told me as they wrapped their arms around mec

"I feel so stupid" I said crying

"Your not stupid" Carlton told me as they wrapped their arms around me hugging me as I kept crying

"When Israel was in Egypt's land" Will sang as I looked up and him this was the song they sang when I cried we were in jail

"Let my people go" Carlton sang

"Oppress'd so hard they could not stand" Will sang as they pointed to me

"Let my people go" I sang smiling

"You guys are idiots" I said laughing

"But we're your idiots" they said hugging me tighter

"What are you wearing" I asked Carlton laughing as Will did too. I saw him wearing a bright blue tux and his nose had a bandage on it

"So what do we do now" I asked  as Carlton got up and stormed into the gym as Will and I got up and followed him and we saw him talking to Josh and everyone stopped and looked at him

"Yeah, no problem I wasn't thrilled with Zora going to the dance with you but I wanted her to be happy but she's not" Carlton said as I got closer

"So, I got to ask you a couple of questions. Did you know her hair coils when you run your fingers through it" he asked as Josh looked confused 

"What?" He asked

"Or why her favorite necklace has a starfish clasp?" He asked him as he shook his head

"No" he told him 

"Its her favorite because when we were younger she told me she wanted to be a starfish" Carlton explained as I smiled. I can't believe he remembers that

"Why should I care" Josh asked

"Do you even know that she has six different smiles?" Carlton asked him

"She has six smiles?" Josh asked as I became intrigued what is he talking about

"Yeah One when something flat out makes her laugh. One when she's laughing out of politeness. But there's one when she makes plans. One when she makes fun of herself. One when she's uncomfortable. And one when One when she's talking about her friends" Carlton explained. I never realized he paid attention to the type of smiles I have

"I don't know those things, Carlton" Josh tols him

"No, you don't, See Josh you really screwed up with this one. I'm telling you, she is more of a treasure than you can possibly know. She's not just some wholesome girl some good-for-you breath of fresh air she is a wonderful person with a huge heart And the kind of beauty that a guy only sees once, you know? Once" Carlton yelled at him as he took a deep breath trying to calm down

"Listen, Josh if there is even a chance just walk away please, just, for your sake walk away, man before I get angry
Because if you do, I swear to God, I will tear you to pieces with my bare hands Or vicious rhetoric" Carlton threatened him as I was shocked he's not a violent person

"You're a good guy, Carlton But it's apparently not good enough" Josh told him as he put his hand on his shoulder

"So why don't you and darkie over her take your nigger asses home" Josh told him as Carlton punched him as he went back as I ran over to him

Will walked uo to Josh and began bucking at him

"What's up what's up" he said as he did the neck twitching

"Carlton" I yelled as I ran over to him and we left out the gym

It took a little while longer for us to get back to the house because we caught a flat but we finally made it back to my house

I grabbed a bag of ice and began wrapping Carlton's hand

"I can't believe you punched Josh in the face. Mr. I don't believe in violence" I said 

"Well he made you upset I couldn't let that happened" he said as I smiled. I finished wrapping his hand and kissed his knuckles

"This has officially been the worst night of my life" Carlton said as I nodded

"You're telling me" I said

"Guess we're both some losers huh" He asked as I nodded

"I never got to have my slow dance" I said as Carlton got up and put on Maria Carey Vision of Love

He walked back over to me and held his hand out

"Would you like to dance" he asked as I smiled

"Of course" I said as I stood up as I wrapped my arms around his neck as we began slow dancing

"You know maybe this night isn't so bad" he told me smiling as I smiled back and put my head on his shoulder

A/N Six Smiles dialogue is from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton