This is a bad idea.

Tasha made me promise to come tonight. Come on, it'll be fun! You need to live a little!

I should be watching movies while I'm swaddled in a blanket cocoon, but instead I'm going to the christmas dance at school. I don't like crowds and I don't like parties, but I am a woman of my word, even when I hate my word.

I check myself in the mirror. I look okay, not beautiful by any means, but pretty good for me. Hair? Check. Makeup? Check. Dress and heels? Check. I guess it's time to go. I sigh, grab my purse and head downstairs.

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

When I walk up to the gym the music is blaring. I can feel the bass thumping in my chest, but I steel myself and stand straight. I don't care what people think of me. I'm confident in myself and my appearance. Of course this is all a lie, but my motto is "fake it til you make it". I walk confidently into the gym and get my bearings. The strobing lights, the loud talking and the ever-present bass make it hard to concentrate, but I search the room for Tasha. I text her, but she doesn't respond.

My confident front is faltering when I see Stacy waving at me. I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not really friends with Stacy, but she talks a lot and knows everyone, so I figure I can tag along with her until Tasha comes.

Stacy comes over, dressed in a hot pink gown with gold accessories and gold-colored shoes that must be at least 4 inches. She cranes her neck to look at me, because even with her ridiculously high heels she doesn't come close to my height.

"Samantha!" She squeals. "It's so good to see you! We haven't talked in FOREVER. Has anyone told you how stunning you look?? I am SO jealous."

At least she's nice. I think, as she prattles on. She doesn't know me well enough to know that I actually prefer the name Sam, but to be fair I only let people who I want a good relationship with call me by my nickname. When she pauses for breath I say, "I'm so glad you're here. I didn't want to come, to be honest, and now Tasha isn't here." I laugh to pretend that I think this is just another funny situation, that I'm not a ball of anxiety inside.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" She asks in her high-pitched voice. "Tasha got the flu. She can't come."

The room started spinning. It takes all my willpower to not fall over and calmly say, "Oh, really?" Inside I was reeling. "I'm going to go sit down for a bit. These heels are killing me." I gesture to my feet and sit down. In reality, I was perfectly comfortable in the heels, though they were well over 3 inches, but I needed an excuse to sit and gather my thoughts.

"Ok see you later!" said Stacy, blowing me a kiss and prancing off to another group of people.

I walk over to the food table, my confident walk from earlier gone. I grab a glass of punch and some cookies, then look around for somewhere quiet. I see a few empty tables, but I don't want people to think I'm alone and come talk to me or make fun of me, so I instead walk over to a table with only a few people. I sit down near to a guy I'm seen in my classes, Charlie. On the other side of the table is a couple, whispering in each other's ears and kissing, so I figure they won't mind if I sit. When I ask Charlie, he nods but seems distracted.

I'd be lying if I said Charlie wasn't good-looking. His light-brown hair is brushed and gelled down, different than its usual curls. His muscular frame fills his suit well. The main thing about Charlie, though, is that he seems comfortable. Most boys don't like wearing nice clothes, fidgeting and pulling at their collars. Charlie wears his as if it is a second skin, and it makes him seem more mature.

I pull myself out of these thought. Charlie, or any guy, had never shown interest in me, so I shouldn't show interest in them. That way I can't get hurt.

I go to take a sip of my punch.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I turn to face Charlie, who has never spoken to me outside of class. "Why not?"

"I saw some kids bringing in some "water" earlier and put it in," he explains, with air-quotes. "So unless you want to get drunk I'd drink this." He grabs a water from a pile in The middle of the table and hands it to me.

I take one last look at the punch, considering it, but sigh and push it away.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asks, genuine concern in his voice.

I sigh again, then smile. I'm not going to make a scene in front of a boy I barely know. "I was supposed to meet a friend here," I explain. "But she got sick and forgot to tell me, so I showed up anyway." I shake my head. "I should probably just go home."

"Aw I'm sorry." His green eyes hold my gaze for a second then drop. "I was supposed to meet someone too, but I don't think they're going to show."

I hear the sadness in his voice and feel bad. I come up with an idea, and even though it's probably not a good idea I decide to go through with it anyway. "Well, there's no use in us just moping around here," I say. Charlie looks up at me questioningly. "Let's get out of here and go do something fun." I stand up and hold out my hand. Charlie stares at my hand for another second then grabs it and stands up.

"Where to?" He asks, a hint of a smile on his face.

************************************************ Charlie
************************************************
We walk out of the gym and outside, then walk around until we're out of sight of the doors. Samantha takes of her silver shoes, and picking up her dress, runs laughing down the sidewalk. I follow, trying to keep up, only to have her run circles around me. She looks almost like a fairy when she runs, her curled hair and light blue dress streaming out behind her in the moonlight. When I finally catch up to her, she's stopped in the middle of the field behind the school. It used to be a soccer field, but now it sits empty all year.

She sweeps her dress to the side and sits down in the middle of the grass, tucking her feet under the silk-like folds of her skirt. She's beautiful. I think as I drop panting beside her. She flashes me another smile, her cheeks pink from the wind.

"Having fun yet?"

"Oh yeah, loads," I say as I clutch my side. "Just running the fastest I've ever run in a suit and dress shoes? Having a great time." I fall backwards on the grass, put my arm across my for head and shut my eyes. I hear another thunk and sit up to see Samantha propped up on her elbows, looking at me with her head tilted to one side. I catch my breathe at how amazing she looks.

I've noticed Samantha for a long time now. How she always knows the answers in class but never raises her hand. How she wears plain clothes and put her hair in a braid to avoid attention. How she's never noticed by anyone for how amazing she really is. How despite this, she always walks tall, carrying her head high and helps others in need. Others like me.

"Samantha..." I begin, not knowing what exactly I'm going to say.

"Sam," she cuts me off. "It's Sam."

"Ok, Sam," I say. "Why are you being nice to me? You could've just left me at that table and driven home."

"I didn't want to leave you there," she says, after a moment to think. "I couldn't drive home knowing that I'd left you without someone to talk to. And, I guess, I wanted to get to know you better. We've had classes together for what, 3 years? And I've still never really talked to you."

She noticed me, too? What does she think of me?

"Well, what do you want to know?" I ask. "I'm an open book."

"Ok," she says slowly. Her beautiful blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "Ooh, I've got one. What's your favorite superhero?"

"Oh, definitely Black Widow," I say without a second thought. "There's no question. What's yours?"

"Captain America, but Scarlet Witch and Black Widow are tied for second," she tells me, as if she has given this a lot of thought. "Captain America because he has good morals and is an all-around good person, Scarlet Witch is the most powerful, and Black Widow was like one of my first female role models."

We talk like this for a long time, asking each other random questions and laughing at our answers. After a while I notice she's shivering.

"Hey, are you ok? You're shivering."

"I'm fine," she says nonchalantly, but I don't believe her.

"Here, take my coat." I scoot over next to her and wrap my coat around her bare shoulders. I start to move away when she says,

"It's not fair if I take your coat and then YOU're cold, so just stay next to me. We can share the heat."

So I do. I stay right next to her. I go to move my arm after I put my coat around her but she lays her hand on top of it, asking me silently to keep my arm around her. This is perfect.

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

After sitting like this for what seems like a blissful eternity, I decide that I'm going to be brave.

"Hey, Sam," I say quietly, my voice barely above a whisper.

She wakes from some sort of reverie and looks up at me, her face framed by a few golden curls that had slipped from her hairdo. "Yeah?" She says, just as softly.

"You wanna dance?" I get up, offering her my hand. She takes it shyly.

"I'm not a very good dancer, and we don't have any music," She says, still softly, as if speaking too loudly could break the spell we're under.

I smile. As if I care whether or not she can dance. "That's alright. I can teach you. And as for music..."

As she loops her arms around my neck, I start humming the intro to Perfect by Ed Sheeran. We sway as I sing softly under my breath. Her eyes shine, and her pink lips part in a smile. I smell her perfume, the scent of jasmine mixing with the smell of the grass in the field. As I finish the song, she sighs in contentment.

"That was beautiful," she tells me.

Now or never.

"Just like you," I tell her. "You look perfect, tonight and everyday." She gives a small gasp. I hope I haven't ruined the night, but now I push on. "For three years I've been in classes with you. In English, you always have the best insights. In math, you always finish faster than everyone else. In choir, you lead your section." I pause for breath, then continue, determined to finish what I had started. "I've seen how amazing you are, Sam. I want to make sure that you see it too. Sam," I almost choke on the last words as I realize I'm crying, "I think I love you."

She looks at me in silence, eyes brimming with tears. I think I've ruined everything. We've stopped swaying, and I start to pull away. "I'm sorry," I whisper, "for ruining your night." I turn to go.

"What did you say?" She asks, and suddenly I'm pulled back into her arms. "You have not ruined my night," she tells me fiercely, as if angry at me for thinking that I had. And suddenly her lips are on mine. She catches me by surprise but I give in, pulling her closer as she grabs my face, lacing one hand through my hair. After what seems like an eternity we pull apart.

She looks deep into my eyes and tells me, "I've noticed you too. I just never believed anyone, especially someone like you, could love someone like me. Thank you for telling me otherwise." She smiles. "That was my first kiss."

"Mine too."

We sit down and she rests her head on my shoulder. I could have stayed there forever, but we could see people walking out of the gym to their cars. "I guess the party's over," I say quietly.

She looks up at me and kisses my cheek. "Five more minutes?" She asks. I chuckle and nod.

"You know," she begins, still resting her head, "I didn't even want to come to this party. I get anxious around people."

I look down at her in disbelief. "You always seem so confident."

"It's all an act." She smiles. "I have no idea why I was able to act so brave with you tonight."

"Well I'm glad you did. Whatever it was, I'm thankful for it." I kiss the top of her head and we lapse into silence, watching people drift out the school, just happy to be in each other's lives.