Free Fearless by Katy Grant Page B

to two other boys in the crowd. His hair was a lot longer now. It actually looked really good on him. Suddenly the thought of carrying on a conversation with him made my whole face blush. So I spun around and took off in the opposite direction. Had he seen me?
    â€œHey! Where are you going? Aren’t you going to talk to him?” asked Molly, following after me.
    Now the big open space in the middle of the diningroom was filling up with people dancing. The music was turned up high, and I could feel the vibrations of it as I weaved in and out of all the people clustered together.
    â€œI can’t just walk up to him and start talking to him. What would I say?”
    â€œGood question. Why don’t you go crazy on him and say something like ‘Hi.’ Then if you really want to walk on the wild side, you could say, ‘How are you doing?’”
    â€œShut up. I slightly hate you for making fun of me right now.”
    â€œI can’t believe this! You know the guy. You’ve danced with him. You’ve written him letters. Why are you suddenly terrified about talking to him now?”
    I finally stopped walking because I felt like we were deep enough in the crowd that he couldn’t see me anymore. “I’m not terrified. I’m just not sure he wants to talk to me.”
    Molly clutched her head in her hands and groaned out loud. “Why wouldn’t he want to talk to you?”
    I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her closer. “Maybe he doesn’t like me anymore,” I said. “Why did he never write me back after I wrote him?”
    Molly sighed. “He probably just got busy. Don’t take it personally.”
    â€œBut what if I said something stupid in my e-mail?What if he wants to avoid seeing me tonight?” I said. I was trying to keep my voice down, but it was hard to carry on a conversation with loud music blaring all around us.
    â€œWhy don’t you go stand out in plain sight,” she suggested. “Then, if he doesn’t come talk to you, you’ll know he doesn’t like you. If he does, then you can stop acting like a slice of fruitcake.”
    We were in the middle of this conversation, so I didn’t see him approaching me. Not Ethan. Another boy with short red hair and braces. “Uh, hi. Do you want to dance?” He was looking directly at me, so he obviously didn’t mean Molly.
    He caught me so completely off guard that all I could do was stand there with my mouth open.
    I didn’t want to say yes. Ethan might see me dancing with him, and then he’d leave me alone for the rest of the night. But I didn’t want to hurt this boy’s feelings. What could I possibly say to get out of dancing with him?
    â€œMy shoes hurt my feet,” I blurted out finally. “They’re giving me blisters.”
    Molly swiveled her head around and gave me the strangest look. “On your brain, maybe.” Then she looked at the guy. “My friend has to go soak her feet,but I’ll dance with you.” She walked away with the redheaded boy, and the two of them were laughing by the time they were out on the dance floor.
    I couldn’t believe she’d said that! If I was going to soak anything at the moment, it would be my flaming hot face. In the punch bowl.
    So now here I was, standing all by myself looking lonely and abandoned. What if Ethan saw me right now? What would he think? I glanced around quickly, and luckily, I saw Whitney a few feet away. For whatever reason, she wasn’t with her best friend Sarah at the moment. I rushed over to her.
    â€œHi, Whitney. Mind if I hang out with you while Molly dances?”
    Translation: Don’t you dare leave me standing here all alone, or I’ll have to hide under a chair.
    â€œHi, Jordan. I love that outfit.”
    I glanced down at my cropped pink jeans and pink-and-white-striped shirt. I wasn’t sure—had I overdosed on pink tonight? Did I